° 


(ji 


NATUfiE'S  AKISTOCKACY; 


OR, 


BATTLES   AND   WOUNDS   IN   TIME 
OF  PEACE. 


BY  MISS  JENNIE  COLLINS. 
n 


EDITED  BY  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 


"  Whoe'er  amidst  the  sons 
Of  reason,  valor,  liberty,  and  virtue 
Displays  distinguished  merit,  is  a  noble 
Of  Nature's  own  creating." 

THOMSON. 

"  What  can  ennoble  sots,  or  slaves,  or  cowards? 
Not  all  the  blood  of  all  the  Howards." 
POPB. 


BOSTON: 

LEE   AND  SHEPARD,   PUBLISHERS. 

NEW    YORK: 

LEE,  SHEPARD,  AND  DILLINGHAM. 
1871. 
JF 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870, 

BY   LEE  AND   SHEPARD, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS  :  WELCH,  BIGELOW,  &  Co., 
CAMBRIDGE. 


TO 

MRS.  JENNIE  HAYDEN  CONWELL, 

whose  sympathy  for  the  oppressed,  kindness  to  the  poor, 
and  lively  interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of 
woman  has  been  so  often  shown  in  words  and  deeds, 
the  author  would  affectionately  dedicate  this  volume. 


PREFACE. 

DUTY  has  often  called,  and  in  this  book  I  try- 
to  respond.  I  have  attempted  but  little,  and 
whether  that  has  been  accomplished  the  impar- 
tial reader  shall  determine. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Shall  I  write?  —  Unnatural  State  of  Society.  —  Needed  Recon- 
struction. —  Nature's  Aristocracy.  —  Her  Impartiality.  —  The 
Battle  of  Genius 1 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE   BEGGARS. 

Little  Lizzie.  —  Professional  Beggars.  —  Begging  as  a  Business. 
—  Success  in  Life.  —  Marrying  a  Beggar  for  Money.  —  An 
Empress  in  Rags.  —  Little  Applicants  for  Food.  —  "  Little  Sis- 
ter 's  real  cold."  —  The  little  Boy's  Heroism  ...  9 


CHAPTER   III 

ONE  GRADE  ABOVE  THE  BEGGARS- 

Homes  of  the  Poor.  —  Why  they  are  Wretched.  —  Educated 
Women  in  Distress.  —  The  Old  Apple-Woman.  —  The  Soldier's 
Wife.  —  Comfort  and  Plenty  in  Exchange  for  Virtue.  —  Gen- 
erosity of  a  Tailoress.  —  ''  Freddie  and  Mamma  won't  cry, 
will  they,  Mamma?  "  —  The  Sailor's  Last  Dollar  . 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

CRIME    AND    NOBILITT. 

Able  Criminals.  —  Fall  of  Companions.  —  Wellie's  Fate.  —  Mar- 
tha the  Actress.  —  The  Able  Gambler.  —  Loss  of  Caste.  —  A 
Writer  in  the  House  of  Correction.  —  She  is  not  worth  Saving. 
— "  The  Prisoner's  Friend."  —  Who  is  responsible  for  Crime  41 

CHAPTER    V. 

NEWSBOYS   AND   BOOTBLACKS. 

Success  in  Life.  —  Their  Genius  and  Education.  —  Newsboys' 
"  Home."  —  Dividing  the  Profits.  —  You  may  borrow,  but  you 
shall  never  pay 60 

CHAPTER   VI. 

SHOP-GIRLS. 

Who  are  Shop-Girls.  —  Their  Condition.  —  The  little  "  Cash- 
Girl."  —Female  Clerks.  —  Their  Trials.  —  What  Society  owes 
them.  — The  Tailor-Shops.  —  Acts  of  Kindness.  —  Ability  of 
the  Shop  Hands 66 

CHAPTER    VII. 

JOURNEYMEN   TAILORS. 

The  Troubles  of  a  Tailor.  —  How  Custom  Coats  are  made.  — 
Too  much  Work,  or  too  much  Leisure.  —  Their  Pay.  — Intel- 
lectual Ability.  —  Oppressive  Foremen.  —  Piece-Makers.  — 
How  they  grind  the  Face  of  the  Poor 89 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

SERVANT-GIRLS. 

Why  American  Girls  prefer  the  Shops  and  Factories.  —  Their 
Taste  and  Refinement. — Incidents  in  Kitchen  Life.  —  The 
Old  Cook.  —  The  Nurse.  —  The  Waiter.  —  Anecdotes,  &c.  100 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER    IX. 

THEN  AND  NOW  OF  FACTORY   LIFE. 

Spirit  of  the  Age.  —Why  Servants  are  Impudent  —  The  First 
Manufacturers.  —  Treatment  of  Operatives.  —  The  Factory 
Girls.  —  The  Boarding-Houses.  —  The  Golden  Age  of  Factory 
Life.  —  The  First  Factories  in  New  England.  —  Growth  of 
the  System.  —  Incorporation.  —  The  Factories  of  England.  — 
The  Ten-Hour  Bill.  —  John  Bright.  —  Americans  descending 
and  the  English  ascending.  —  The  Operatives  now  in  Amer- 
ican Employ.  —  History  of  a  Factory  which  prospered  with 
the  "  Old  School "  and  failed  with  the  "  New  "...  124 

CHAPTER    X. 

HOW   COTTON   IS   MANUFACTURED. FACTORY   FRIENDSHIPS. 

Brotherly  Affection.  —  The  Destitute  Wife. —  The  Widow's 
Trial.  —  The  Country  Girl  and  the  Actress.  —  Drunken  Pick- 
ard  and  Bob 160 

CHAPTER    XI. 

AMONG    THE     "  STRIKERS." 

Character  of  "  Strikers."  —  Homes  of  Workmen.  —  Life  of  a 
Factory  Girl.  —  Of  Factory  Men.  —  Tailors'  and  Telegraph 
Strikes.  —  The  "  Dover  Strike."  —  Incidents  of  Factory  Life, 
&c 172 

CHAPTER    XII. 

CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 

What  is  Charity?  — Wages  according  to  the  Profits.  — The 
Lawrence  Calamity.  —  Charity  and  small  Wages.  —  Cutting 
down  the  Pay  of  Operatives  to  make  great  Donations. — 
Temporary  Relief  not  a  permanent  Cure.  —  "Homes."  — 
Their  Uses  and  Abuses.  —  How  a  "Soldiers'  Home"  was 
supported.  —  Incidents,  &c .214 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

NATURAL  AND  UNNATURAL  ARISTOCRATS. 

Representatives  of  Nature.  —  Who  save  the  Communities.  — 
Examples  of  Nobility.  —  Names  of  Prominent  American 
Aristocrats.  —  The  Darker  Side  of  the  Picture.  —  Anecdotes 
of  Unnatural  Aristocracy.  —  No  Peace  with  Ill-Gotten  Gains  247 

CHAPTER   XIV 

LABOR   REFORM. 

Lack  of  Thought.  —  How  Politicians  lead  the  People.  —  The 
Lessons  of  the  War.  —  Organization  of  a  Labor  Reform  Party. 

—  No  Leaders.  —  What  the  Laborers  demand.  —  Less  Hours. 

—  The  Respect  of  Thinking  Men.  —  Just  Legislation    .        .    281 

CHAPTER    XV. 

WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE. 

Woman's  Rights.  —  Woman's  Sphere.  —  Using  the  Talents 
which  God  gave  her.  —  History  of  the  Suffrage  Movement 
in  America.  —  Margaret  Fuller.  — Why  the  Rich  do  not  want 
the  Ballot.  —  Who  need  it.  —  Conclusion  .  .  .  298 


NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 


CHAPTEE   I. 

NATURE'S   AEISTOCRACY. 

Shall  I  write  ?  —  Unnatural  State  of  Society.  —  Needed  Recon- 
struction. —  Nature's  Aristocracy.  —  Her  Impartiality.  —  The 
Battle  of  Genius. 

I." 

npHEY  are  sad  tales  indeed  which  I  have  to 
-L  tell.  Too  full  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  defeats 
and  discouragements,  oppression  and  cruelty  to  be 
sought  by  the  gay,  and  too  true  to  attract  the  nov- 
elist. Yet  I  must  write  them.  The  world  shall 
hear  them,  though  the  recollection  brings  tears  and 
the  repetition  a  shudder.  Sad  faces  !  How  they 
crowd  upon  me  now  that  I  open  the  gate  of  mem- 
ory !  Lonely  wives,  oppressed  daughters,  tearful 
toilers  at  needle  and  loom,  broken-hearted  victims, 
and  lifeless  suicides. 

Must  I  live  it  over  again  ?  Must  I  look  once 
more  into  those  tearful  eyes,  and  see  those  out- 
stretched hands  ?  Can  I  listen  to  their  touching 


2  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

appeals  again,  even  in  memory,  and  feel  that  I  have 
no  bread,  no  influence,  no  political  power?  Yes, 
God  helping  me,  /  will  write.  Yea,  I  will  tread 
fearlessly  back  along  the  thorny  path  of  my  short 
life ;  and  the  shades  of  the  hungry,  toil-killed,  and 
heart-shattered  men  and  women  shall  tell  their 
tales  to  the  world  in  death,  as  they  told  them  to 
me  in  life. 

Ah  the  old  Merrimack !  How  he  leaps  into  the 
foreground,  as  if  the  wheels  he  has  turned,  the 
bodies  he  has  floated,  and  the  scraps  he  has  washed 
away  had  told  him  secrets  too  great  to  keep !  But 
he  must  be  dumb,  or  relate  his  sad  history  only  to 
the  bubble-worn  rocks,  the  sands,  and  the  ocean. 
For  too  much  is  already  known. 

How  often  in  the  spare  moments  of  factory  toil 
I  have  gazed  out  at  the  long  windows  upon  the 
sombre  waves  of  that  river  as  they  rolled  unceas- 
ingly over  the  dam,  and  grew  cheerful  and  gay  as 
they  leaped  over  ledges,  and  eddied  around  boul- 
ders, and,  giggling  a  moment  with  the  race-way 
flood,  sped  on  toward  the  ocean,  thoughtless  and 
happy !  How  many  a  sigh  it  wafted  away  in  those 
long  dull  days,  and  how  often  it  reflected  faces 
that  longed  to  make  in  it  their  cold  bed,  eternity 
only  knows.  But  it  flows  there  now  as  powerful 
as  ever.  Dreamy  faces  look  upon  its  flood  now  as 
they  did  in  the  years  gone  by,  and  the  rattle  of 
shuttle  and  the  crash  of  gearing  still  mingle  with 


CONDITION  OF   SOCIETY.  3 

its  wild  and  hollow  roar.  I  suppose  the  faces  are 
yet  in  the  windows,  though  they  often  change ;  and 
that  the  trembling  window-sills  support  exhausted 
and  agitated  operatives  as  often  now  as  they  did 
years  ago.  We  will  peer  into  them  with  the  reader 
before  we  are  done,  and  search  for  the  men  and 
women  who,  like  many  in  other  stations  of  life, 
are  far  below  their  natural  level,  living  an  aimless, 
useless  life,  while  their  inferiors  are  riding  in  the 
parks  or  dining  in  their  decorated  halls.  But  first 
we  must  visit  the  workshops  of  the  city,  the 
dwellings  of  the  wealthy,  the  homes  of  poverty, 
and  the  slums  of  North  Street,*  that  we  may 
point  out  those  persons  to  whom  God  has  given 
five  talents,  and  who,  by  the  unnatural  condition 
of  society,  have  been  consigned  to  places  where 
they  cannot  use  even  one.  Wrecks  !  mastless  and 
rudderless,  swinging  around  and  around  in  the 
current  of  the  great  maelstrom,  and  destined  to  be 
swallowed  up  within  sight  of  the  land  from  which 
they  once  sailed  as  well-rigged  and  well-manned 
men-of-war,  capable  of  defending  the  coast  and  of 
doing  themselves  honor. 

Strange,  strange  dispensation !  Men  that  should 
be  kings,  in  damp,  dirty  cellars,  working  at  a  bench, 
and  women  made  for  queens,  now  in  the  dancing- 
saloon  and  poorhouse;  while  the  snob,  whose 
brains  fit  him  only  for  carrying  a  hod,  with  women 

*  A  street  in  the  vilest  quarter  of  Boston. 


4  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

•whose  natural  stations  would  be  at  the  street- 
corners  sweeping  the  walks,  are  found  in  the  beau- 
tiful homes  of  millionnaires  and  in  the  responsible 
offices  of  government.  I  would  not  say  that  it  is  al- 
ways so.  For  there  are  rich  men  who  are  nature's 
noblemen,  and  fashionable  women  of  wealth  who 
are  well  fitted  for  their  station,  as  there  are  also 
workmen  that  have  found  their  level  at  the  spade, 
and  working-women  whose  sewing-machines  are 
above  their  genius.  But  it  is  strange  that  there 
should  be  any  filling  positions  so  far  from  those  to 
which  the  God  of  nature  seemed  to  have  assigned 
them.  If  you  should  enter  a  factory  and  find  the 
water-wheels  in  the  garret,  the  heaviest  machinery 
in  the  seventh  story,  and  the  dressing  and  weave- 
room  in  the  basement,  you  would  find  the  machin- 
ery and  system  less  out  of  joint  than  at  present  it 
seems  to  be  in  this  strange  country  of  ours.  The 
structure  of  our  society  is  like  a  building  for  which 
the  stone  were  carefully  designed  and  carved,  but 
in  the  construction  of  which  the  masons  seized 
upon  whatever  block  came  handiest,  without  regard 
to  design  or  fitness,  using  window-sills  for  partition 
walls,  capstones  for  the  foundation,  and  chink- 
pieces  for  the  corner-stone.  What  wonder  that  it 
cracks  under  the  pressure  and  jar  of  labor,  fright- 
ening its  occupants  and  appalling  the  spectators ! 
It  needs  rebuilding!  and  let  us  proceed,  as  the 
workmen  do  with  the  crumbling  cathedrals  on  the 


IMPARTIALITY   OF  NATURE.  5 

Ehine,  beginning  at  the  bottom  and  replacing, 
piece  by  piece,  the  old  wall  by  new  until  the 
whole  —  renewed,  though  unchanged  in  general 
design  —  with  each  corner,  tie,  sill,  and  cap,  shall 
be  one  complete  and  harmonious  whole. 

• 
II. 

NATURE  hates  every  aristocracy  but  her  own,  and 
she  is  ever  at  work  trying  to  restore  to  the  throne 
her  own  line  of  nobles,  which  the  dollar  and  family 
pride  have  deposed.  As  if  to  spite  the  haughty 
devotees  of  money,  she  gives  them  spendthrifts 
for  sons  and  daughters,  who  seldom  keep  the 
treasure-chest  through  the  second  generation.  To 
the  intellectually  endowed  she  often  gives  idiotic 
children ;  to  the  minister  of  the  gospel,  ungodly 
posterity  ;  and  to  every  anxious  father,  a  son  dif- 
fering, at  least  in  some  respect,  from  the  coveted 
ideal.  Great  men  seldom  ever  see  their  own 
equal  in  the  person  of  a  son.  On  the  other 
side,  the  farmer  expects  an  assistant  in  the  field 
when  his  child  shall  be  grown,  and  behold!  he 
soon  finds  himself  the  father  of  a  philosopher. 
The  poor  mechanic  at  the  anvil  dreams  of  a  time 
when  his  boy  shall  stand  beside  him  swinging  the 
hammer  as  he  himself  has  ever  done ;  but  lo  !  in 
a  few  years  he  finds  that  Nature  has  haply  de- 
ceived him  and  given  him  an  orator.  The  humble 


6  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

attendant  on  belt,  shuttle,  and  loom  marks  out  a 
factory  career  for  his  child,  and  has  no  higher 
ambition  than  to  be  the  father  of  an  overseer ; 
but  when  to  his  wondering  eyes  he  sees  the  fash- 
ioning hand  of  culture  making  the  bobbin-boy  into  a 
man  of  letters,  and  sees  him  the  idol  of  millions,  and 
perhaps  a  leader  in  the  nation,  he  is  hardly  able 
to  convince  himself  that  this  prodigy  is  the  same 
boy  for  whom  he  had  laid  out  such  an  humble 
plan  of  life.  Nature  makes  an  equal  distribution 
of  her-  favors,  and  the  son  of  an  ignorant  or  com- 
mon man  is  a  more  acceptable  suitor  at  her  feet 
than  is  the  son  of  the  wealthy  and  great.  There 
will  be  but  one  Napoleon,  though  his  posterity 
continue  in  power  a  hundred  years.  There  will 
be  but  one  Washington,  one  Benjamin  Franklin, 
one  Florence  Nightingale,  one  Joan  of  Arc,  in 
their  respective  family  lines.  Blood  does  not  tell 
where  we  will  find  genius  and  true  greatness ; 
neither  will  Nature  tell  us  beforehand.  For  she 
peers  into  every  habitation,  from  the  lowest  hovel 
to  the  most  princely  palace,  and,  as  if  she  loved 
practical  jokes,  she  says  to  her  agents,  "  These  par- 
ents would  have  a  street-sweep,  —  give  them  a  gen- 
eral ;  these  would  have  a  carpenter,  —  give  them 
an  inventor ;  these  would  have  a  merchant,  —  give 
them  a  truckman ;  these  would  have  a  prince,  — 
give  them  a  loafer ;  these  would  have  a  king,  — 
give  them  a  hod-carrier."  And  thus,  throughout 


THE  BATTLES   OF  GENIUS.  7 

all  the  circles  and  grades  of  society,  slie  keeps 
changing  the  leadership,  —  raising  the  lowly,  hum- 
bling the  proud,  belittling  the  great,  and  dignifying 
the  poor ;  ever  planning  to  defeat  those  strenuous 
human  attempts  at  the  establishment  of  an  hered- 
itary aristocracy,  and  to  teach  men  that  in  her 
royal  line,  and  in  hers  only,  are  to  be  found  the 
legitimate  noblemen. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  all  her  attempts  and  her 
impartiality,  Nature  does  not  always  succeed  in 
getting  the  recognition  of  her  claims  to  which  she 
is  entitled.  Mortals  do  defeat  her.  Sometimes 
her  chosen  men  are  so  inspired  by  her  that 
they  break  every  bond  of  custom,  prejudice,  and 
pride,  and,  amid  a  fearful  shower  of  curses  and  dis- 
couragements, fight  their  way  against  the  army  of 
human  aristocracy  until  they  scale  the  highest 
wall  of  the  citadel  and  stand  on  its  parapets 
conquerors  and  kings.  Others,  regardless  of  pov- 
erty and  hardship,  buy  with  their  genius  a  place 
which  money  could  not  purchase,  and  after  years  of 
toil  look  down  from  their  niche  and  laugh  at  the 
aping  aristocrats  who  are  trying  to  buy  wings  and 
attempting  to  fly  on  "borrowed  pinions"  to  the 
seats  which  the  sons  of  "  mechanics  "  so  gracefully 
fill.  But  these  are  the  exceptions.  In  this  incon- 
sistent society  of  ours  Genius  has  a  terrible  battle 
to  fight,  and  five  chances  out  of  ten  he  falls  fight- 
ing on  the  field,  while  the  usurper  treads  upon  his 


8  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

neck  and  grinds  him  in  the  dust.  In  every  grade 
of  society  we  find  these  branches  of  the  royal 
line  defeated  and  disheartened  by  the  never-end- 
ing persecution  of  the  arrogant-wealthy  and  the 
conceitedly  fortunate.  Even  beggars  and  street- 
sweepers  there  are,  whose  graceful  forms  and  intel- 
ligent faces  indicate  nobility.  But  their  courage 
is  not  equal  to  their  genius  in  other  respects,  the 
battle  has  already  been  lost,  and  they,  with  the 
thousands  whom  their  intellect  might  have  saved, 
are  dejected,  ambitionless  captives.  Of  the  suc- 
cessful ones  it  is  not  my  place  to  write.  The 
world  sees  them,  and  the  conceited  aristocrats 
envy  them.  But  of  the  lowly  and  spirit-broken 
fugitives,  whose  just  claims  for  position  and  in- 
fluence, and  often  for  a  livelihood,  have  been  jostled 
aside  by  wickedness  and  crime,  and  of  whom  the 
world  does  not  so  often  hear,  it  is  my  place,  as  a 
lover  of  justice  and  humanity,  to  speak.  And  it 
is  my  purpose  to  do  so  considerately,  truthfully, 
and  encouragingly,  without  malice  or  prejudice, 
and  keeping  always  to  the  simple  tales  of  real  life 
which  have  occurred  within  the  limit  of  my  per- 
sonal acquaintance. 


CHAPTEE    II. 

THE  BEGGAES. 

Little  Lizzie.  —  Professional  Beggars.  —  Begging  as  a  Business. 
—  Success  in  Life.  —  Marrying  a  Beggar  for  Money.  —  An 
Empress  in  Rags.  —  Little  Applicants  for  Food.  —  "Little 
Sister 's  real  cold."  —  The  little  Boy's  Heroism. 

I. 

POOR  little  Lizzie  !  How  sad  she  always  ap- 
peared as  she  came  to  the  kitchen  door  and 
asked  for  something  to  eat !  I  can  see  her  still  as  I 
recall  her  tattered  dress,  dirty  feet,  matted  hair,  fresh 
red  cheeks,  and  large  blue  eyes.  With  all  her  rags 
and  filth  she  had  the  air  of  a  queen,  —  a  queen 
of  moral  purity  and  love.  Behind  her  bright  eyes 
gleamed  an  intelligence  so  clear  and  vivacious' 
that  the  beholder  felt  awed,  even  in  the  presence 
of  a  child. 

"  What  is  your  name,  my  little  girl  ? "  said  I  to 
her  one  morning. 

"  lizzie,"  said  she,  in  the  sweetest,  most  touching 
tones  that  I  have  ever  heard. 

"  How  old  are  you  ? " 
i* 


10  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

"  Only  six  years,"  said  she,  looking  shyly  up,  as 
if  she  wondered  what  selfish  purpose  prompted  the 
query. 

"  Where  do  you  live  ?  " 

"  In  Salem  Street,"  said  she,  pointing  toward  it 
with  her  pretty  little' hand.  "  I  am  nobody's  girl, 
as  my  mother  was  killed  by  the  cars  and  left  no- 
body to  tell  who  I  belonged  to.  Mrs.  McVarney 
has  took  me." 

"  What  do  you  do  for  Mrs.  McVarney  ? " 

"0,1 begs." 

Poor  little  thing!  so  she  did  beg,  not  only 
abroad  for  money,  but  at  home  for  food;  and 
although  she  obtained  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  former,  her  supply  of  the  latter  was  limited 
indeed.  I  went  home  with  her  one  day  to  as- 
certain why  this  little  queen  of  natural  and  intel- 
lectual beauty  was  seen  in  the  street  so  ragged 
and  dirty,  instead  of  being  comfortably  cared  for 
and  sent  regularly  to  school.  I  never  shall  for- 
get that  home  and  the  things  which  I  saw  there. 

It  was  a  tenement-house  at  the  end  of  a  long, 
dark,  filthy  alley  in  the  vilest  portion  of  the  city, 
and  the  rooms  occupied  by  Lizzie's  mistress  were 
in  the  second  story,  and  were  reached  by  a  rickety 
stairway  on  the  outside  of  the  house.  There  was 
wretchedness  on  every  side.  Bloated  faces  stared  at 
me  from  the  cellars,  chilling  curses  echoed  from  the 
adjoining  tenements,  base  women  and  baser  men 


MATRON  OF  A  BEGGARS'  HOME.       11 

quarrelled  in  the  alley,  while  little  half-naked  chil- 
dren played  in  the  dirt  and  laughingly  pronounced 
the  most  terrible  oaths.  Lizzie  was  not  with  me,  be- 
cause she  dare  Hot  be  the  escort  of  a  stranger ;  but 
from  her  description  of  the  locality  I  easily  found 
the  rooms  occupied  by  her  mistress.  At  the  door, 
as  I  paused  a  moment  to  consider  the  step  I  was 
taking  and  to  form  an  excuse  for  my  visit,  I 
was  startled  by  a  series  of  most  piercing  shrieks, 
mingled  with  curses  and  the  dull  "  thugs  "  of  heavy 
blows.  The  sound  proceeded  from  the  room  into 
which  the  door  opened,  and  without  further 
thought  I  thrust  it  open  and  stepped  into  the 
apartment. 

In  the  middle  of  the  wretchedly  furnished  room 
stood  a  thin,  bony-framed  woman,  with  flashing 
black  eyes,  beating  a  freckled-faced  girl  with  the 
broken  handle  of  a  wooden  ladle.  There  were  five 
other  girls  in  the  room,  none  of  whom  were  over 
eight  years  old,  and  all  looking  on  with  an  ex- 
pression of  terror  that  was  most  pitiful.  When 
the  woman  saw  me  she  released  the  girl,  whom  she 
had  been  holding  on  tiptoe  by  her  hair,  and,  turn- 
ing upon  me  with  the  uplifted  ladle,  demanded 
who  I  was  and  what  I  wanted.  I  cannot  tell  now 
what  passed  between  us,  for  I  became  so  excited  ; 
I  only  know  that  she  struck  me  a  blow  upon  the 
shoulder,  and  a  policeman  came  and  took  her  away. 
But  I  do  remember  how  the  girls  clapped  their 


12  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

little  hands,  and  with  tearful  eyes  caught  hold  of 
my  dress,  asking,  0  so  pitifully  !  "  Will  she  come 
back  any  more  ?  "  And  when  I  asked  the  poor 
things  what  they  were  all  doing  there,  I  received 
from  each  little  lisping  pair  of  lips  the  same  reply 
which  Lizzie  gave  me,  —  "I begs." 

They  were  hungry  and  nearly  naked,  their  feet 
were  sore  and  swollen,  while  their  faces  and 
wadded  hair  were  a  most  disgusting  sight. 

How  pretty  they  looked,  however,  and  how 
happy  they  seemed,  when,  after  a  thorough  wash- 
ing and  being  neatly  clothed,  they  stood  together 
in  a  row  before  the  police-officer,  to  testify  against 
their  enslaver  !  Four  were  orphans,  and  two  were 
stolen  from  their  parents,  and  all  had  been  taken 
and  tortured  by  this  vile  woman,  who  made  a  busi- 
ness of  sending  out  beggars.  She  taught  them 
fine  speeches  of  a  dying  mother,  and  of  starvation, 
and  taught  them  to  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
and  forbade  the  use  of  profanity,  in  order  that  they 
might  have  a  pleasing  address ;  and  she  was  suc- 
cessful. These  little  creatures  heeded  her  lessons 
so  well  that'  they  often  brought  home  five  dollars 
in  a  single  day  besides  boarding  themselves  on  the 
food  they  received.  If  they  obtained  nothing  they 
were  made  to  go  to  their  bed  —  which  was  simply 
a  blanket  on  the  bare  floor  —  without  a  mouthful 
to  eat.  Great  was  the  indignation  of  the  officers 
and  other  officials  to  whom  the  story  came,  and  a 


A  CKUEL  MISTRESS. —  BEGGARS.  13 

heavy  fine  with  a  term  in  the  jail  -was  her  sen- 
tence. She  paid  the  fine  by  an  order  on  the  bank, 
which  contained  seven  thousand  dollars  of  her  de- 
posits, and  after  her  term  had  expired  she  went 
into  the  old  business  again.  All  her  love  and 
pity  had  been  crushed  out  of  her  in  her  younger 
days  by  the  cruelties  of  a  loved  libertine,  and  no 
word  of  kindness  or  of  counsel  could  find  lodging 
in  her  broken  heart.  Once  she  was  an  angel  of 
beauty ;  now  an  incarnate  devil,  fit  only  for  cruelty 
and  remorseless  oppression.  But  to  her  history  I 
may  again  refer ;  and  I  will  pass  on,  by  saying  that 
one  of  the  girls  is  now  a  teacher  in  a  public  school, 
while,  through  the  opportunities  given  by  benevo- 
lent men  and  women,  all  the  others  have  become 
noble  women  and  lights  in  their  social  circles. 


II. 

OFTEX  have  I  been  surprised  at  the  business 
tact  which  I  have  seen  displayed  among  beggars, 
and  I  feel  assured  that  the  same  economy  and 
shrewdness  displayed  in  a  higher  scale  of  business 
would  entitle  them  to  the  respect  of  the  mercan- 
tile community.  Few  persons,  old  or  young,  ever 
adopt  begging  as  a  business  without  first  being 
driven  into  it  by  starvation  or  suffering.  Yet 
thousands,  after  they  have  once  broken  their  pride 
and  gained  the  courage,  continue  in  it  and  lay 


14  NATURE'S  ARISTOCKACY. 

away  money.  Some  have  been  known  to  own  fine 
blocks  of  stone  buildings,  and  still  sit  by  the  street- 
corners  begging.  One  of  the  beggars  now  seen  in 
Boston,  and  whose  face  and  extended  hand  are  as 
familiar  as  the  State  House,  has  become  so  wealthy 
that  a  woman  last  year  married  him,  saying  pri- 
vately to  her  friends  that  she  "  did  not  love  the 
cripple,  but  could  spend  some  of  his  money."  One 
old  man  who  was  blind,  and  who  carried  about  on 
his  breast  the  placard  "  I  'm  blind,"  died  a  few 
months  ago  with  fourteen  thousand  dollars  in  bank- 
stocks  hid  away  in  his  old  waistcoat.  .  He  had  not 
only  begged,  but  speculated  ;  and  in  so  doing  showed 
a  better  fitness  for  a  place  in  State  or  "Wall  Street 
than  is  exhibited  by  many  who  are  there.  One 
old  sailor,  who  was  forced  to  beg  for  food  after 
having  been  robbed  in  North  Street,  conceived  the 
idea  of  collecting  the  scraps  that  were  so  freely 
offered  him  and  of  selling  them  to  the  keepers  of 
swine.  He  undertook  it  in  company  with  a  boy 
whom  he  hired,  and  began  to  have  such  an  income 
that  he  purchased  share  after  share  in  a  ship.  Soon 
he  became  sole  owner,  and  could  sail  as  master  of 
his  own  vessel.  One  of  the  wealthiest  retail  mer- 
chants on  Broadway  was  once  a  beggar,  living  on 
kitchen  refuse  and  sleeping  on  the  wharves.  Ac- 
cidentally he  found  a  ten-dollar  gold-piece  on  the 
pavement,  and,  investing  it  in  confectionery  for  a 
little  stand  on  the  street-corner,  he  started  in  the 


A  POOR  BEGGAR-WOMAN.  15 

mercantile  career  which  has  given  to  himself  a 
princely  fortune  and  to  the  world  a  generous  sup- 
porter of  all  that  is  good. 


III. 

I  REMEMBER  a  poor  beggar-woman,  who  came 
to  the  kitchen  door  one  cold  day  in  the  winter 
of  1858,  through  whose  tattered  garments  the 
frosty  wind  came  at  will,  and  in  whose  features 
there  was  such  an  indication  of  past  refinement 
that  I  stared  at  her  with  unfeigned  surprise.  It 
seemed  as  if  I  had  seen  her  before ;  and  her  ways 
were  so  much  like  the  manners  in  higher  grades 
of  society  that  I  felt  as  if  it  was  a  burlesque 
or  a  practical  joke  made  to  surprise  me  or  some 
of  my  friends.  But  she  shivered  in  the  chil- 
ling wind,  the  frost  gathered  in  her  hair,  her  par- 
tially bare  feet  grew  purple  with  cold,  as  she  asked 
for  a  piece  of  bread  to  eat.  Had  she  commanded 
me  to  order  a  carriage  and  take  her  to  a  home  on 
Beacon  Street,  I  should  have  been  less  surprised 
than  I  was  to  hear  her  ask  for  food.  Her  high 
forehead  and  large  eyes,  prominent  nose  and  close- 
fitting  lips,  round  chin  and  broad  shoulders,  seemed 
to  have  been  made  for  an  empress ;  and  she  carried 
herself  wfth  such  unassumed  dignity,  as  she  walked 
into  the  kitchen  in  response  to  my  deferential  in- 
vitation, that  I  felt  convinced  that  she  had  been 


16  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

one.  And  there  before  the  fire  and  in  the  soul- 
cheering  warmth  of  the  faces  that  gathered  around, 
she  told  her  simple  story.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  a  wealthy  land-holder  in  Ireland,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  most  polished  schools  of  that  island. 
But  she  fell  in  love  with  a  young  farmer,  and,  as 
her  parents  opposed  the  marriage,  eloped  with  him 
to  America.  Here  they  managed  to  eke  out  an 
existence  for  three  years,  during  which  time  she 
had  two  children.  Then  came  poverty  and  suffer- 
ing. Her  husband  tried  to  get  a  place  to  work  in 
New  York,  and  afterwards  in  Boston,  without  avail. 
The  place  for  Irishmen,  EVERYBODY  said,  was  on  the 
railroad.  This  work  he  could  not  do,  on  account 
of  his  health.  Closer  grew  their  poverty  and 
greater  became  their  wants,  until  at  last  in  his 
misery,  disgusted  with  wife  and  children,  the  hus- 
band would  accept  jobs  of  work  for  what  liquor  he 
could  drink,  and,  coming  home  intoxicated,  abused 
them  in  a  most  terrible  way.  Then  she  tried  for 
work.  She  could  teach,  she  could  sew,  she  could 
copy  or  draft ;  but  nowhere  would  they  take  an  un- 
recommended  stranger.  So  in  her  distress  she  had 
become  a  beggar.  When  I  inquired  why  she  went 
in  such  rags  when  a  few  stitches  would  make  them 
more  comfortable,  she  rose  to  her  feet  and,  taking 
hold  of  the  ragged  skirt,  exclaimed,  "  When  I  be- 
gan to  beg,  this  dress  was  whole.  It  was  the  only 
one  I  had,  and  I  valued  it  highly.  But  I  found 


THE  WOULD  A  STAGE.  17 

that  the  world  was  a  great  stage,  upon  which  each 
character  must  appear  in  a  proper  dress.  I  was  a 
beggar !  and  while  my  dress  was  whole,  my  face 
washed,  and  my  hair  combed,  no  one  would  give 
me  a  farthing.  So  I  tore  this  dress,  disarranged 
my  hair,  and  rent  my  shoes  that  men  might  believe 
my  story.  For  appearance  or  comfort  are  nothing 
to  me  compared  with  the  lives  of  my  dear  chil- 
dren. Could  I  only  see  those  poor  things,  that  are 
shivering  now,  with  no  fire ;  hungry,  and  have  no 
food;  crying  for  'mother,'  and  she  comes  not, — 
ay,  could  I  see  them  in  some  safe  place  of  refuge, 
where  no  voice  should  ever  say  that  their  mother 
was  a  beggar,  0  how  welcome  death  would  be ! 
The  snow-bank  would  be  as  soft  a  pillow,  or  the 
ocean  as  warm  a  bed,  as  this  poor  bleeding  heart 
could  wish." 

I  gave  her  a  shawl  to  cover  her  bare  shoulders, 
but  she  put  it  under  her  skirt,  saying :  "  Mary  or 
Tie  will  like  it,  or  I  may  pawn  it ;  but  every  com- 
fort which  I  accept  for  myself  is  a  curse  to  me 
now.  I  am  happiest  when  freezing,  for  then  I 
get  food  for  my  dear  children."  So  saying,  she 
trod  bravely  away  from  the  fire,  and,  like  a  hero 
about  to  charge  a  fortress,  she  swept  over  the 
threshold  into  the  cold  drifting  snow.  And  when 
I  returned  from  the  chilly  door- way  to  the  fire,  after 
having  watched  her  fluttering  garments  as  they 
disappeared  around  the  next  corner,  I  said  to  my- 


18  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

self,  "  Many  real  queens  are  without  a  throne,  and 
some  are  beggars  !  " 

TV. 

AH,  ye  drawing-room  beauties  and  afternoon 
belles,  ye  cannot  see  the  phases  of  life  which  the 
kitchen-girl  sees,  nor  learn  the  value  of  purity 
and  virtue  by  a  comparison  with  vice  and  shame. 
If  you  would  but  go  to  the  kitchen  door  in  the  cold 
winter  mornings  when  that  hesitating,  gentle  rap 
comes  upon  the  panel,  or  that  timid  pull  at  the 
bell,  and  would  look  into  the  little  pleading  faces 
as  they  tremblingly  ask  for  food,  you  would  find 
a  field  of  useful  work  of  more  interest  than  the 
latest  fashion,  and  of  more  importance  than  last 
night's  ball.  Many  of  these  beggars,  it  is  true,  are 
impostors,  and  others  are  "  runners  "  for  men  or 
women  who  make  a  business  of  collecting  these 
contributions.  But  now  and  then  there  comes  a 
face  so  beautiful,  so  innocent,  so  full  of  anguish, 
and  so  like  an  angel  in  rags,  that  you  feel  like  ask- 
ing her  to  stay  forever.  Little  boys  I  have  seen 
at  the  door  whose  faces  fairly  shone  with  the 
divine  fervor  of  genius,  and  whose  very  walk  was 
indicative  of  embryo  greatness,  but  upon  whose 
dress  and  tones  the  mark  of  poverty  was  too  ap- 
parent to  be  doubted.  Bright  little  cherubs  they 
were  indeed !  So  much  sweeter,  nobler,  braver, 


BABY  MENDICANTS.  19 

than  the  puny  house-dolls  which  lay  above  stairs 
sleeping  in  down  and  damask.  Often  as  I  have 
turned  away  from  listening  to  the  patter  of  retreat- 
ing footsteps  I  have  said  to  myself,  "  How  proud 
the  master  and  mistress  of  this  house  would  be 
if  they  only  had  such  a  son  !  "  Nothing  strange 
would  it  be  if  some  one  of  those  little  beggar- 
boys  should  at  some  time  be  the  successor,  if  not 
the  heir,  of  the  owner  of  the  mansion,  while  the 
legitimate  heir,  according  to  the  human  view,  goes 
as  far  into  poverty  as  the  parents  have  into  wealth 
and  extravagance. 


I  RECALL  two  little  children  who  came  to  the 
door  when  a  cold  rain-storm  beat  against  the  win- 
dows and  covered  the  trees  with  glistening  sleet. 
Their  little  eyes  were  filled  with  tears,  their  fingers 
numb,  and  their  clothing  drenched.  Sweet  little 
voices  told  the  maid  that  they  with  their  mother 
were  turned  out  of  doors,  and  they  had  come  for 
a  piece  of  bread.  Neither  were  more  than  four 
years  old,  and  it  seemed  hardly  possible  that  so 
juvenile  a  pair  could  find  their  way  through  the 
back  alleys. 

"  Are  you  not  cold  ?  "  said  the  maid,  as  she  gave 
them  a  piece  of  bread. 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  the  little  boy,  trying  to  push 


20  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

his  benumbed  hands  into  his  trousers  pockets, 
"  I  'm  not  cold  any  ;  but  little  sister  is  real  cold" 

"  "Will  you  come  in  and  warm  you  by  the  oven  ? " 
asked  the  maid,  at  the  same  time  making  as  if  she 
would  lead  them  in. 

"  No  mind  me,  ma'am,  but  please  warm  little 
sister,"  said  the  brave  little  fellow,  holding  his 
head  erect,  and  looking  defiantly  up  at  the  storm. 
"  Mother  and  I  don't  mind  the  cold,  but  little 
sister  here  is  small." 

And  the  brave  little  fellow  remained  on  the 
doorstep  like  a  hero,  shivering  and  aching,  hav- 
ing tucked  away  the  piece  of  bread;  and  not  a 
murmur  escaped  his  lips  while  his  little  sister 
warmed  herself  and  partook  of  a  hearty  meaL 
He  showed  no  impatience  when  she  came  out,  but, 
taking  her  warm  hand,  would  have  trudged  away 
with  her,  had  not  the  maid,  who  was  "trying" 
him,  called  him  back  and  made  him  understand 
that  it  would  not  be  intruding  to  wTarm  himself 
at  the  great  oven.  Here  we  learned  that  his 
mother  was  the  widow  of  a  mechanic,  who,  having 
died  a  short  time  before,  had  left  them  destitute  ; 
and  what  added  tenfold  to  the  hungry  little  fel- 
low's heroism  was  the  fact,  as  he  reluctantly  ad- 
mitted, that  he  had  tucked  away  the  little  piece 
of  bread  because  he  was  "  'fraid  mama  had 
nuthin'  t'  eat."  Wonderful  generosity !  Provid- 
ing for  his  mother  and  sister,  and  braving  the 


THE  BRAVE  LITTLE  BROTHER.  21 

storm  cheerfully,  while  he  himself  was  hungry  and 
almost  freezing  !  Was  not  he  one  of  nature's  little 
noblemen  ?  and  will  he  not,  if  he  wins  the  hard 
battle  against  caste  and  custom,  become  the  "  head 
of  the  corner"? 


CHAPTEE  III. 

ONE  GRADE  ABOVE  THE  BEGGARS. 

Homes  of  the  Poor.  — "Why  they  are  Wretched. — Educated 
Women  in  Distress.  —  The  Old  Apple-Woman.  —  The  Sol- 
dier's Wife.  —  Comfort  and  Plenty  in  Exchange  for  Virtue. 
—  Generosity  of  a  Tailoress.  —  "Freddie  and  Mamma  won't 
cry,  will  they,  Mamma  ? "  —  The  Sailor's  Last  Dollar. 

I. 

DO  you  call  them  dens  ?  You  are  right ;  they 
are  dens.  For  most  assuredly  they  are  not 
homes,  although  they  may  be  human  dwellings. 
Ah !  how  you  revolt  at  the  idea  of  entering  those 
musty  attics  and  those  damp  and  vermin-filled 
cellars !  But  the  lowest  stage  of  human  wretched- 
ness will  not  be  seen  without  such  a  sacrifice  ;  so 
march  boldly  into  the  dark  passages,  the  narrow 
alleys,  and  the  dangerous  stairways,  resting  assured 
that  God  has  called  you  to  a  noble  work,  and  will 
not  leave  you  without  protection.  "  The  poor  ye 
have  always  with  you,"  said  the  blessed  Rede'emer, 
and  it  does  seem  as  if  we  had  many  more  now 
than  ever  before,  while  the  necessity  for  such 
wretchedness  has  long  since  passed.  Thousands 


HOMES   OF  THE  WRETCHED.  23 

to-day  are  eating,  sleeping,  and  working  in  the 
bare  garrets  of  old  rickety  buildings,  or  gradually 
drawing  in  with  each  painful  breath  a  deadly  po- 
tion of  consumption  or  rheumatism  from  the  dark 
cellars  of  the  dirtiest,  narrowest,  and  gloomiest 
streets  of  our  great  cities.  Many  of  them  have  a 
bundle  of  straw  for  a  bed,  old  clothes  for  quilts, 
and  nothing  for  fire.  Do  you  say  that  the  locality 
seems  an  appropriate  place  for  such  wrecks  of  hu- 
manity ?  Then  let  me  inquire  if  they  made  the 
locality,  or  did  the  locality  make  them  ?  Is  their 
coarseness  a  natural  necessity  ?  or  have  their  as- 
sociations and  circumstances  made  them  coarse  ? 
Is  their  lack  of  love  and  respect  a  natural  defect  ? 
or  have  want  and  suffering  calloused  their  hearts  to 
every  kind  emotion  ?  Are  they  dishonest  ?  Who 
would  not  be  dishonest  when  with  truth  came 
certain  starvation  ?  I  tell  you  to  go  and  see  them, 
and  form  an  opinion  of  your  own.  Ask  them  who 
robbed  or  swindled  them  out  of  an  honest  liveli- 
hood. Ask  them  what  drunkard  consigned  them 
to  such  prisons.  Ask  them  who  broke  their  lov- 
ing hearts,  and  abandoned  them  to  the  mercies  of 
the  unfeeling  world ;  and  fail  not  to  inquire  what 
landlord  oppresses  them  now,  or  what  employer 
cheats  them  out  of  rightful  wages.  The  story 
will  chill  your  warmest  pulse,  and  tingle  down  the 
minutest  nerve ;  and  if  they  relate  to  you  the 
stories  of  injustice,  crime,  and  misfortune  which 


24  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

they  have  poured  into  my  reluctant  ears,  while 
noting  the  intellect  and  ability  which  lay  hid  in 
rags,  you  will  be  ready  to  exclaim  with  me,  "  0 
for  the  day  when  God's  will  shall  'be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven ' ! "  I  shall  not  venture  to  say 
that  all  the  poor  are  such  from  injustice  or 
from  any  uncommon  misfortune  ;  for  some  few  do 
appear  to  have  been  lorn  to  le  poor,  and  would  be 
unhappy  with  plenty  of  food,  clothing,  or  a  pleas- 
ant home.  "  Constitutionally  lazy  "  some  of  them 
really  are,  and  to  attempt  to  ameliorate  their  con- 
dition would  be  to  offend  their  sense  of  right. 
But  the  thousands  of  natural  aristocrats  whose 
station  in  society  is  far  above  these  dirty  mendi- 
cants, and  whose  niche  has  never  been  filled  and 
never  can  be  occupied  by  another, — they  are  the 
subjects  of  honest,  honorable  pity.  Educated 
women  are  to-day  in  the  garrets,  working  night 
and  day  for  the  food  that  scarce  sustains  life,  who 
are  well  fitted  for  teachers  in  our  academic  insti- 
tutions. 

II. 

I  RECALL  an  instance  where  a  woman  was  found 
in  a  lonely  garret  at  the  North  End  of  Boston, 
who  at  the  time  she  was  discovered  was  work- 
ing in  a  cold  room  with  bleeding  fingers,  patching 
clothes,  and  who,  when  questioned  by  the  Captain 
of  Police  who  found  her,  showed  a  ready  knowledge 


THE  OLD  APPLE-WOMAN.  25 

of  geometry,  Latin,  French,  and  German.  She  had 
rather  die  than  beg ;  and,  failing  to  get  a  situation 
in  the  city  before  starvation  came  upon  her,  she 
took  old  clothes  to  mend,  and  at  no  time  could 
she  earn  enough  ahead  to  pay  for  a  calico  dress  in 
which  to  make  renewed  attempts  at  the  better- 
ment of  her  condition. 


III. 

I  REMEMBER  an  old  apple-woman  who  used  to 
be  well  known  in  the  tailor-shops  of  Washington 
Street  in  Boston,  and  whose  face  became  so  famil- 
iar to  the  needle  and  machine  girls  that  she  was 
looked  upon  as  a  friend.  Seldom  did  she  come 
into  the  shop  without  finding  many  purchasers  for 
her  fruit  and  confectionery,  and  she  always  had 
thanks  for  all  who  thus  favored  her.  No  one  knew 
her  history,  except  that  she  was  a  lone  widow,  for 
she  never  spoke  of  her  domestic  affairs.  The  day 
came  when  she  was  missed  from  the  shops,  and 
the  absence  of  her  genial  face  and  kind  smile  cast 
a  gloom  over  many  a  poor  sewing-girl  who  had  be- 
come attached  to  her.  At  last,  after  an  interval  of 
several  weeks,  I  met  her  on  Boston  Common  with 
her  old  basket,  slowly  tottering  toward  the  shops. 
I  stopped  her  and  inquired  why  she  had  been 
absent,  although  a  glance  at  her  pale  and  wrinkled 
face  and  sunken  cheeks  rendered  the  question  un- 


26  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

necessary.  She  said  that  she  had  been  sick,  and  was 
out  that  day  for  the  first  time  in  three  weeks.  I 
then  asked  her  who  had  taken  care  of  her  all  this 
time.  She  stared  at  me  an  instant  as  if  she  would 
avoid  an  answer,  and  then,  dropping  her  eyes,  gave 
way  to  tears,  and  sobbed  out  a  hysterical  "  nobody." 
And  I  found  it  to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  case. 
She  had  been  three  long  weeks  sick,  in  a  little 
attic  room,  with  no  care,  and  with  no  food  except 
the  little  unpalatable  biscuit  which  the  baker's 
boy  brought  up  for  six  cents  a  day  as  he  had  done 
when  she  was  well.  During  the  latter  part  of  her 
illness  she  received  fifty  cents  from  the  wife  of  a 
prominent  clergyman,  and  a  promise  of  fifty  cents 
per  week  thereafter.  She,  however,  owed  for  the 
rent  of  her  attic  the  sum  of  two  dollars,  and  had 
been  notified  to  pay  the  next  day  or  give  it  up. 
She  was  in  deep  distress,  and  asked  for  work. 
She  said  that  she  could  not  beg,  and  must  earn 
whatever  she  received.  I  promised  her  a  piece 
of  work,  for  which  I  paid  in  advance  that  she 
might  pay  her  rent,  and  then  took  her  to  a  lady 
whose  benevolence  had  been  heralded  far  and 
wide.  Here  I  told  her  story  and  asked  assistance. 
But  the  old  lady  refused  to  take  a  gift,  as  she  was 
not  a  beggar,  but  an  applicant  for  work.  This 
offended  the  lady,  and  we  were  sent  away  without 
assistance  merely  because  the  old  lady  wished  to 
live  one  grade  above  the  beggar.  Not  only  this, 


A  HERO  AND   HEROINE.  27 

but  the  offended  one  sent  a  note  to  the  clergyman's 
wife,  and  caused  her  to  withdraw  the  promised  fifty 
cents  a  week,  leaving  the  poor  old  lady  utterly 
destitute.  Then  it  was,  when  she  was  abandoned 
by  all,  and  left  to  face  starvation  alone,  that  she 
rose  above  her  station  and  showed  the  natural 
majesty  of  her  soul.  She  seized  her  basket,  and, 
smiling  cheerfully,  pointed  upward  with  a  sig- 
nificant gesture,  and  trudged  away  with  the  air  of 
one  who,  though  in  darkness,  sees  light  ahead  and 
is  determined  to  wait  not  by  the  way.  It  was  not 
many  times  that  the  landlord  called  for  rent,  and 
but  a  short  time  to  look  back  upon,  before  the 
old  lady  found  a  home  in  that  free  mansion  pre- 
pared for  such  as  her  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world. 

IV. 

IT  was  said  by  the  members  of  the  Twenty-Fifth 
Massachusetts  Eeglment,  in  the  fall  of  1863,  that 
Eichard  Eheim  had  deserted  to  the  enemy.  The 
circumstances  connected  with  his  disappearance 
were  such  that  the  captain  of  his  company  deemed 
it  safe  to  report  him  on  the  pay-roll  as  "  a  de- 
serter." 0,  how  little  did  the  captain  know  of  the 
heroism  displayed  by  Eichard  when  he  was  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy,  or  of  the  tortures  he  was  en- 
during in  a  Georgia  prison  at  the  time  the  report 
was  made !  For  verily  he  was  a  hero.  Eighteen 


28  NATURE'S  AEISTOCEACY. 

months  of  prison  life,  however,  reduced  him  to  a 
mere  skeleton,  and  although  he  recovered  suffi- 
ciently to  be  able  to  walk  about,  he  never  was  strong 
enough  to  work  at  his  trade  again.  For  a  short 
time  after  his  return  from  the  war  he  felt  quite 
encouraged,  and,  believing  that  he  would  soon  be 
strong  again,  he  began  a  job  of  light  work,  and 
married  one  of  the  brightest  graduates  of  the 
Boston  public  schools.  But  years  passed,  and  his 
health  gradually  failed,  until  in  1869  his  general 
debility  turned  into  consumption.  Then,  without 
money  or  wages,  the  poor  fellow  was  obliged  to 
see  his  little  wife  work  night  and  day  with  her 
needle  to  support  him  and  the  two  little  children. 
Both  were  well  educated,  refined,  and  noble  ;  and 
such  a  lot  must  have  been  hard  indeed.  For  a 
while  this  brave  little  heroine  supported  the 
family  well ;  paying  the  rent,  buying  the  food  and 
fuel,  as  well  as  caring  with  wonderful  neatness 
and  skill  for  all  her  household  duties.  She  had  a 
way  of  turning,  patching,  and  mending  which 
made  old  garments  look  as  fresh  and  wear  as  well 
as  new,  and  the  little  girl  and  the  baby  were 
thought  by  visitors  to  be  the  prettiest  children  in 
the  neighborhood.  Soon,  however,  the  doctor's 
bills,  the  delicacies,  and  extra  fire  for  her  invalid 
husband  made  a  greater  demand  on  her  purse  than 
it  could  supply,  and  she  began,  in  spite  of  the 
closest  economy  and  the  greatest  frugality,  to  fall 


THE  TEMPTER.  29 

behind.  Soon  her  rent  was  overdue,  and  the  land- 
lord became  insolent ;  the  grocer  was  not  paid,  and 
he  refused  to  supply  her  with  more  bread ;  and  at 
last,  when  she  had  not  taken  food  for  two  days  and 
her  children  were  crying  for  something  to  eat,  she 
determined  to  go  into  the  marts  of  trade  and  ask 
for  assistance.  Her  husband  was  confined  to  his 
bed,  the  doctor  would  not  come,  and  they  must 
move  or  pay  their  rent  at  once.  She  had  never 
begged,  and  did  not  know  what  to  say  or  to  whom 
to  apply.  But  she  knew  that  the  richest  men 
of  Boston  assembled  on  State  Street,  and  to  that 
place  she  went  with  a  heart  full  of  hope.  She 
did  not  see  how  men  with  plenty  of  money  could 
refuse  her  truthful  and  heartfelt  appeal,  or  turn  a 
deaf  ear  to  her  touching  story. 

But  they  did.  From  one  broker's  office  to  an- 
other, from  bank  to  warehouse,  and  to  all  classes 
of  men  this  woman  applied  for  aid.  Not  one  cent 
did  she  get;  while  many  cursed  her  and  thrust 
her  rudely  aside.  At  last  she  determined  to  make 
one  more  effort,  and,  going  into  a  broker's  office, 
tremblingly  told  her  story.  Imagine,  if  you  can, 
her  consternation  when  coldly  informed  that  she 
was  not  very  poor  as  long  as  she  had  her  virtue 
to  sell,  and  he  —  the  wretch! — would  give  her  a 
fifty-dollar  bill  for  that. 

She  fled  from  him  as  from  a  viper,  and  dared  not 
look  back  until  she  had  turned  the  corner;  and 


30  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

then  the  "broken-hearted  little  woman  sat  down  in 
a  door-way  and  wept  the  bitter  tears  of  despair. 
Then  it  was  —  as  if  the  cup  of  her  sorrow  was  not 
yet  full  —  that  another  man  spoke  kindly  to  her, 
and,  after  drying  her  tears  with  comforting  assuran- 
ces, made  another  vile  proposition,  and  offered  her 
in  exchange  for  her  purity  money  without  stint.  0 
the  vile  monster !  How  can  thefe  be  a  God  of  jus- 
tice when  such  hellish  fiends  are  permitted  to  pros- 
per !  The  little  sufferer  was  too  stricken  to  be  in- 
dignant at  the  second  blow,  and  exclaiming  "  I  can- 
not !  I  cannot ! "  tried  to  break  away  from  him.  He 
was  attracting  the  attention  of  passers-by,  so  he 
permitted  her  to  go ;  but  nqt  before  he  told  her 
where  she  could  find  him  if  she  should  conclude 
to  accept  his  offer.  O,  who  can  tell  the  torture 
of  mind  which  the  conflict  of  the  most  powerful  of 
human  emotions  inflicted  upon  her !  Her  home 
was  cold  and  cheerless  when  she  arrived ;  there 
was  no  wood  for  a  fire,  no  medicine  for  the  dying 
one,  no  food  for  the  pleading  children.  What  a 
temptation  it  was  to  accept  the  wicked  offer  of  the 
libertine  !  But  she  held  out  until  the  sight  of  her 
watch  and  chain  reminded  her  of  a  pawn-shop,  and 
at  an  early  hour  on  the  following  day  she  paid  her 
rent  by  pledging  the  valued  gift  of  a  deceased 
mother.  Then  with  her  clothing,  furniture,  and 
little  jewelry  which  she  pawned  she  gained  a  res- 
pite of  another  month.  But  the  time  came  when 


DISCOVERED   AT  LAST.  31 

she  had  lost  irretrievably  all  she  had  pawned,  and 
had  nothing  left  to  pledge  except  the  blankets  of 
her  husband's  bed.  Could  she  take  them  ?  No. 
She  had  thus  far  studiously  kept  the  invalid  igno- 
rant of  their  poverty,  and  often  tried  to  excuse  the 
"neglect"  of  which  he  sometimes  complained  by 
saying  that  she  "  must  go  away  sometimes  to  get 
work"  Could  she  pawn  the  blanket  ?  Should 
she  take  that  comfort  from  him,  and  bear  the  blame 
which  his  ignorance  of  the  true  state  of  affairs 
would  make  him  ascribe  to  her;  or  should  she 
sell  herself  to  the  cursed  tempter  ?  Hard  question 
for  a  poor  hungry  woman  to  decide  ;  but  she  finally 
took  the  blanket.  0  ye  that  have  not  known 
poverty,  and  over  whose  heads  is  a  comfortable 
home,  think  how  that  hungry  and  shivering  woman 
must  have  felt  when  at  midnight  of  an  unexpect- 
edly frosty  night,  as  she  was  crouching  in  the 
corner  over  her  children  to  keep  them  warm,  she 
heard  her  husband  feebly  calling  from  the  other 
room,  "  Mary  !  Mary  !  I  am  cold  !  Please  ~bring 
me  anotJier  blanket." 

Sho  tried  to  shape  an  excuse,  but  she  could  think 
of  none.  Her  tongue  could  not  tell  him  a  delib- 
erate falsehood,  and  after  trying  to  strip  her  own 
dress  off  to  place  on  his  bed,  she  broke  completely 
down ;  and  in  a  burst  of  anguish  told  him  the 
whole  painful  story.  Ah !  how  he  must  have 
chafed  at  the  insult  offered  to  his  wife,  and  how 


NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

his  manly  heart  swelled  as  the  truth  broke  upon 
him !  That  night  of  heroic  misery  should  have 
been  enough  to  blast  forever  the  prosperity  of  every 
banker  that  refused  her  assistance.  He  thought 
of  the  State  aid  for  soldiers,  and  the  next  day  she 
applied  for  it.  But  he  was  entered  on  the  rolls  as 
a  deserter,  and,  although  there  was  sufficient  proof 
of  his  capture,  she  must  wait  for  the  rolls  to  be 
corrected  at  Washington.  Another  fortnight  crept 
along,  during  which  time  this  wife  worked  until 
midnight  upon  the  pants  she  made,  and  began 
again  every  morning  at  four  o'clock.  The  appear- 
ance of  a  light  so  late  and  so  early  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  neighbors,  and  the  story  of  her 
poverty  began  to  gain  circulation.  Then  a  sol- 
dier of  the  State  Surgeon-General's  staff  heard 
the  tale  and  extended  a  generous  hand  to  the  fam- 
ily ;  providing  for  their  necessities,  and  promising 
the  stricken  husband,  who  shortly  after  died  in  his 
arms,  that  the  heroic  wife  should  have  a  protector. 
This  in  the  city  of  Boston,  where  genius,  pa- 
tience, and  merit  are  supposed  to  be  always  re- 
warded ! 

Y. 

A  FEW  years  ago  a  poor  tailoress,  whose  earnings 
would  scarcely  support  her  when  used  in  the  clos- 
est manner,  had  so  large  a  heart  and  cuch  executive 
ability  that  she  conceived  the  idea  of  organizing 


THE   GENEKOUS   POOR.  33 

a  "  sewing-society "  among  her  poorer  acquaint- 
ances, and,  by  giving  to  eacli  person  the  part  of  the 
work  for  which  she  was  the  best  fitted,  making  the 
aggregate  earnings  larger  than  they  would  be  if 
the  party  worked  independently  of  each  other. 
Among  other  women  whom  she  assisted  in  this 
way  was  an  old  lady  eighty  years  of  age,  who  was 
addicted  to  drink,  but  who,  when  in  a  sober  state, 
was  as  sociable  and  nimble  as  many  women  at 
forty.  The  influence  of  the  tailoress  upon  the  old 
lady  was  such  that  the  latter  wholly  reformed, 
and  became  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  companion. 
Soon,  however,  her  eyesight  failed,  and  she  could 
not  work  with  the  others.  The  tailoress  then,  to 
whom  the  old  lady  was  no  relation,  and  only  a 
short  time  even  an  acquaintance,  undertook  to 
work  more  hours,  and  more  steadily  during  hours, 
in  order  that  she  might  support  this  old  blind 
woman.  It  did  not  occur  to  her  that  it  was  possi- 
ble to  get  assistance  from  the  city  authorities,  and 
for  a  whole  year  she  labored  on  in  her  work  of 
love,  caring  for  and  nursing  the  aged  invalid  as  if 
she  were  the  tailoress's  own  mother.  One  day  the 
old  lady  told  "  a  secret,"  and  said  that  she  had  a 
son,  a  rich  banker  in  Boston ;  and  the  tailoress 
proceeded  immediately  to  find  him.  She  succeed- 
ed after  a  whole  day's  search,  and  found  him  in 
one  of  the  largest  banking-houses  in  the  city,  and 
learned  that  he  was  worth  over  three  hundred  thou- 
2*  c 


34  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

sand  dollars.  To  her  petition  for  an  interview  he 
sent  the  impudent  reply  that  he  did  not  receive 
shop-girls  in  his  counting-room.  But  she  persisted 
in  her  request,  and,  after  a  direct  refusal,  marched 
into  his  private  office,  and  there,  face  to  face,  told 
him  of  his  aged  mother.  The  merchant  cursed  the 
old  lady  and  all  her  associates,  refused  to  pay  any- 
thing toward  her  support,  and,  acknowledging  the 
woman  to  be  his  mother,  rudely  thrust  the  tailor- 
ess  out  of  the  door.  For  years  thereafter  that  poor 
tailoress  divided  her  little  wages  with  the  old  lady, 
and  was  at  last  the  only  mourner  at  the  disowned 
mother's  secluded  grave.  The  tailoress  has  since 
died,  and  another  of  the  noble  poor  added  to  the 
roll  that  lias  been  called  in  a  never-ending  eter- 
nity. 


A  GENTLEMAN  was  passing  the  magnificently 
decorated  windows  of  a  city  toy-shop,  when  his  at- 
tention was  called  to  a  lady  who  was  dressed  in 
mourning,  and  who  led  a  little  boy  about  five  years 
old.  He  was  evidently  his  mother's  only  son,  and, 
as  her  husband  was  deceased,  her  only  love.  The 
little  boy  saw  a  plaster-cast  in  the  window  repre- 
senting two  little  kittens,  giggling  and  grinning 
together  in  a  most  comical  way ;  and,  as  it  was  near 
Christmas,  he  wished  his  mother  to  purchase  it  for 
him.  But  the  lady  turned  aside  with  a  sigh,  and, 


GENEROUS  FREDDIE.  —  SAILOR  FRIENDS.   35 

•wiping  away  a  tear,  saidv"  Not  now,  Freddie ;  we  are 
poor"  The  little  boy  appeared  disappointed  for  a 
moment  and  glanced  wistfully  back  at  the  window, 
while  his  mother  tried  to  call  his  attention  to  the 
passing  teams.  But  when  he  happened  to  look  up, 
and  noticed  that  his  mother  was  crying,  he  sud- 
denly assumed  a  most  cheerful  look,  and,  seizing 
his  mother's  hand,  danced  about  her,  calling  out  in 
a  conciliatory  way,  "  We  are  poor,  ain't  we,  mam- 
ma ?  0  yes,  we  are  poor.  But  we  don't  mind  it, 
do  we,  mamma  ?  Freddie  don't  want  no  kittens  nor 
presents,  docs  he,  mamma  ?  No,  Freddie  won't 
have  a  Christmas  present,  'cause  he  don't  want 
any,  for  he  and  mamma  are  poor  !  We  won't  cry 
over  it ;  will  we,  mamma  ?  " 

There  was  nobility  in  that  little  body,  even 
though  his  father  was  an  oysterman. 

VII. 

Two  sailors,  who  had  been  together  for  years, 
and  upon  whose  heads  had  descended  many  a 
storm,  came  on  shore  at  the  port  of  Boston  for  the 
first  time  in  three  years.  One  was  a  liberal,  open- 
hearted  spendthrift ;  while  the  other,  having  some 
pet  purpose,  placed  what  money  he  could  in  the 
savings-bank.  In  an  hour  of  temptation  the  spend- 
thrift stole  his  companion's  bank-book,  and,  forging 
the  signature,  drew  out  the  money.  It  was  only 


36  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

three  hundred  dollars,  but  tp  those  toil-worn  sailors 
it  looked  like  a  very  large  sum  indeed.  I  saw  the 
culprit  in  the  police-court  docks,  and  I  believe  that 
when  he  said  "  I  'm  sorry,"  he  said  it  out  of  regard 
for  his  old  friend  rather  than  in  fear  of  the  law. 

It  was  forgery,  and  the  case  was  postponed  until 
the  next  term  of  the  Superior  Court.  After  the 
prisoner  was  taken  to  the  jail,  his  companion  ob- 
tained permission  to  visit  him,  and,  going  to  the 
cell  door,  spoke  nearly  as  follows  :  "  Tom,  I  did  not 
suppose  that  they  would  shut  you  up  like  this,  as  I 
only  wanted  my  money,  which  would  n't  do  you 
any  good.  If  I  could  get  you  out,  I  would  do  it 
now,  for  old  love's  sake,  Tom.  But  I  cannot ;  so 
don't  feel  bad,  you  '11  get  out  some  time.  Here  is 
my  last  dollar  until  the  Judge  pays  back  that 
which  you  had,  and  I  don't  know  where  I  can  get 
any  more,  but  what  I  do  get  I  will  divide  with 
you.  You  are  a  prisoner  and  I  am  free,  so  I  '11  take 
care  of  you.  Don't  be  sad,  Tom.  I  won't  leave 
you.  I  '11  cruise  about  and  heave-to  in  front  of 
this  cell  every  day  to  see  if  you  are  in  distress. 
Don't  mind  your  quarters,  Tom,  but  tliink  of  good 
old  times  when  you  and  I  were  afore,  tlie  mast!' 

How  many  instances  of  noble  generosity,  as  well 
as  of  refinement  and  ability,  I  might  relate  to  prove 
that  nature  is  not  impartial,  I  cannot  now  say. 
The  very  thought  brings  to  mind  so  many  cases 
that  I  am  almost  ready  to  declare  that  man  has, 


THE  SOLDIER'S  WIDOW.  37 

"by  some  strange  interposition,  reversed  the  true 
order  and  thrown  aside  the  fittest  material  for  the 
construction  of  human  society.  Only  one  grade 
above  the  beggars  are  found  industrious,  ingenious, 
economical,  stout,  and  generous-hearted  men  and 
women,  whose  proper  mission  would  seem  to  be 
that  of  elevating  and  ennobling  the  race,  instead  of 
the  life  of  nonentity  which,  as  far  as  human  pro- 
gress is  concerned,  they  now  lead. 

VIII. 

ONE  warm  day  in  the  summer  of  1869  I  was 
called  upon  by  a  lady  who  stated  that  she  needed 
assistance,  and  wished  me  to  recommend  her  to 
some  of  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  State  or 
city.  She  was  rather  small  in  stature,  having  dark 
hair,  blue  eyes,  with  a  girlish  face,  indicative  of  a 
loving  and  trusting  disposition.  Her  sweet,  musi- 
cal voice  was  sufficient  proof  that  no  false  words 
could  be  coined  from  it,  and  her  sunken  cheeks 
and  worn  dress  "were  confirmations  strong  as 
Holy  Writ."  She  was  evidently  in  the  deepest 
distress,  and  I  listened  with  great  eagerness  to 
the  story  which  she  had  to  tell.  She  was  a  sol- 
dier's widow ;  or,  rather,  she  thought  she  was,  —  for 
in  1865  she  received  a  locket  and  chain  with  her 
little  girl's  ambrotype,  and  a  partially  destroyed 
letter,  said  to  have  belonged  to  her  husband,  and 


38  NATURE'S  AEISTOCKACY. 

found  by  a  comrade  on  the  person  of  a  rebel. 
Whether  her  husband  was  dead  or  not  she  could 
never  positively  ascertain,  although  she  enter- 
tained no  doubt  of  it,  and  these  keepsakes  sent 
her  by  a  member  of  his  company  were  of  the 
greatest  value  to  her.  Since  the  war  she  had  been 
at  work  upon  white  skirts,  for  which  she  received 
sixty-two  cents  a  day,  and,  being  fortunately  pos- 
sessed of  a  sewing-machine,  she  was  able  to  do 
the  work  and  attend  to  her  other -duties. 

But  her  little  girl  was  taken  sick,  and  she  could 
not  then  work  all  the  time,  neither  could  she  keep 
her  expenses  within  her  income.  She  tried  to 
live  upon  old  crusts  of  bread  and  cold  Indian  pud- 
ding, but  her  child  grew  worse  upon  it,  while  she 
became  so  weakened  that  she  was  almost  insane. 
At  the  time  when  she  applied  to  me  she  wore 
her  only  dress,  and  she  was  so  nearly  famished 
that  her  mind  wandered,  and  her  memory  seemed 
to  fail  her  altogether.  But  when  the  generous 
hand  of  General  Dale,  the  Surgeon-General  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  had  opened,  as  it  had  so 
generously  to  hundreds  of  others,  and  together 
with  the  great  assistance  given  by  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Boston  Soldiers'  Messenger  Corps, 
had  placed  her  and  her  child  beyond  the  reach  of 
starvation,  and  redeemed  from  the  pawnbroker's 
the  locket  and  other  gifts  which  she  valued  highly, 
her  failing  mental  faculties  came  back  in  full  vigor, 


THE  DESEETED   WIFE.  39 

while  the  child,  having  proper  food,  soon  became 
robust  and  healthy. 

One  day,  while  conversing  with  her  about  her 
husband,  I  suggested  the  idea  that  he  might  have 
returned  and  never  have  taken  the  pains  to  find 
her,  or  that  he  might  have  abandoned  her  to  live 
with  another  woman.  I  shall  never  forget  her  look 
of  pain  as  she  held  up  her  hands  protestingly,  and 
exclaimed,  "  0  don't,  don't  say  that !  "  But  an 
investigation  which  was  soon  after  instituted  in  her 
behalf  proved  that  my  supposition  was  the  true 
state  of  the  case,  and  that,  instead  of  being  killed 
or  captured,  the  wretch  had  come  home  to  Ver- 
mont with  his  regiment,  and  had  gone  off  with 
another  woman.  It  was  hard  to  break  the  news 
to  her  when  the  truth  was  known,  and  she 
withered  under  it  like  a  leaf.  0,  it  was  suffi- 
ciently heart-rending  to  think  of  him  as  dead 
and  buried  in  an  unknown  grave  ;  but  that  was  a 
pleasure  to  the  pangs  which  this  devoted  heart 
felt  when  told  that  he  lived  and  had  deserted  her ! 
What  bitter  tears  she  wept ! 

It  was  then,  when  her  sorrow  culminated  in  the 
darkest  despair,  that  the  nobility  of  her  character, 
which  had  shone  so  brightly  through  all  her  trials, 
gleamed  still  brighter  than  ever  before.  Without 
saying  a  word  to  the  parties  concerned,  she  went 
and  pawned  again  the  piece  of  jewelry  and  her 
clothes,  and,  managing,  by  reducing  herself  to  en- 


40  NATURE'S  'ARISTOCRACY. 

tire  destitution,  to  get  the  amount  of  money  which 
she  had  received  from  General  Dale  and  Captain 
Balcom,  she  went  to  return  it,  saying,  "  I  cannot 
keep  the  money  you  gave  me ;  for,  instead  of  being 
a  soldier's  widow,  I  am  a  deserted  wife."  They 
told  her  that  she  must  keep  that  which  she  had, 
and  promised  to  give  her  larger  amounts,  saying 
that  she  needed  it  all  the  more  if  she  was  deserted. 
Reluctantly  she  accepted  the  money  "for  her 
child's  sake,"  and  she  now  comes  often  to  thank 
her  benefactors,  and  tell  them  about  her  child,  in 
language  which  establishes  her  unsued  claim  to 
natural  superiority. 


CHAPTEE   IV. 

CRIME  AND    NOBILITY. 

Able  Criminals.  —  Fall  of  Companions.  —  "Wellie's  Fate.  — 
Martha  the  Actress.  —  The  Able  Gambler.  —  Loss  of  Caste. 
—  A  Writer  in  the  House  of  Correction.  —  She  is  not  worth 
Saving.  —  "The  Prisoner's  Friend."  —  Who  is  responsible 
for  Crime. 

I. 

IT  does  seem  to  me  that  there  are  times  when, 
notwithstanding  the  scripture,  it  is  eminently 
wise  to  "  thank  God  that  we  are  not  as  other  men  "  ; 
and  when  the  wisdom  of  that  celebrated  divine 
who  never  saw  a  thief,  drunkard,  or  murderer 
without  saying  to  himself,  "  It  might  have  been 
me,"  is  fully  confirmed.  The  thieves,  robbers, 
swindlers,  libertines,  and  murderers  are  usually 
taken  from  the  most  intelligent  part  of  the  com- 
munity, as  far  as  natural  talent  is  concerned ;  and 
the  causes  which  served  to  make  them  what  they 
are  have  come  from  a  faulty  education,  or  the  cir- 
cumstances arising  from  an  unnatural  state  of  soci- 
ety. Lives  of  prisoners  and  public  statistics  prove 


42  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

the  ability  and  intellectual  power  of  this  class  of 
human  beings  ;  while  examples  are  not  wanting  in 
the  history  of  any  day  to  prove  the  generosity, 
the  honor,  and  the  ingenuity  of  many  men  and 
women  whom  the  law  justly  calls  criminals.  It  is 
not  my  purpose  to  discuss  in  this  chapter  all  the 
reasons  why  such  talent  is  prostituted  to  such 
base  purposes,  nor  to  suggest  the  remedy.  For 
the  facts  I  relate  seein  to  point  out  their  own 
remedy  in  a  clearer  and  more  forcible  manner 
than  any  writer,  however  gifted,  could  do. 

I  would  remark,  however,  that,  as  society  is 
responsible  for  crime,  each  individual  is  also 
responsible  as  far  as  he  aids,  or  stands  by  without 
opposing,  the  institutions  and  laws  which  con- 
tribute toward  these  evils ;  and  that,  if  there  is 
any  reckoning  for  the  deeds  done  here  in  the 
body,  the  wickedness  of  sinning  by  masses  will 
be  as  severely  punished  as  that  of  sinning  sep- 
arately and  alone. 

II. 

IT  is  a  delicate  as  well  as  painful  subject  which 
I  am  here  obliged  to  introduce  in  justice  to  the 
readers  of  this  book,  and  I  touch  upon  it  with 
hesitation  and  fear.  Its  nature,  as  well  as  its 
enormity,  cautions  us  to  speak  of  it  in  whispers, 
and  to  hide  our  faces  as  we  hint  at  the  evils  which 
we  dare  not  describe. 


WELLIE  THE  SHOP-GIRL.  43 

Tears  will  flow,  and  my  heart  will  wildly  throb, 
when  I  think  of  some  of  the  dear,  dear  friends 
whom  I  once  knew  and  loved,  whose  Iiv6s  were 
so  full  of  sorrow,  and  ended  in  so  much  shame. 
Bosom  companions,  who  once  confided  to  me  all 
their  little  plans,  all  their  griefs  and  hopes,  all 
their  purposes  and  desires,  and  whose  walks  were 
so  upright  and  thoughts  so  pure,  have  appeared 
again  to  me  in  after  years  haggard  and  wrinkled, 
liveried  in  vice  and  crime,  and  filled  with  every- 
thing that  was  disgusting  and  bad.  O,  what  a 
wreck  woman  can  be  if  perchance  she  fall ! 

III. 

ONE  sweet  face  comes  back  to  me  now,  and 
seems  to  cheer  me  on  in  my  chosen  work,  al- 
though it  is  years  since  that  sunny  countenance 
disappeared  from  my  companionship.  Dear  "Wei- 
lie,  how  I  loved  you !  How  your  bright  eyes  won 
me  when  first  I  saw  you,  and  what  a  halo  of  holy 
light  seemed  to  surround  you  wherever  you  went ! 
How  well  I  remember  your  kindness,  your  charity, 
your  cheerfulness  and  industry  !  We  were  "shop- 
girls "  then,  Wellie,  and  yet  we  were  as  happy  as 
the  proudest  queens.  "We  thought  that  it  would 
always  last,  and  that  you  and  I  would  always 
love  each  other  and  be  ever  boon  companions. 

They  told  me  that  it  was  you,  Wellie,  whom  I 


44  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

saw  yesterday  so  coarse  and  ungainly ;  but  I  do 
not  believe  them.  It  may  be  that  it  was  your 
body,  but  it  cannot  have  been  your  soul.  You 
used  to  walk  nimbly  and  uprightly,  but  that  crea- 
ture was  clumsy  and  stooping.  Your  face  was  as 
bright  as  the  sunlight ;  that  woman,  whom  they 
now  call  by  your  name,  wore  a  countenance 
dark  as  night.  I  remember  your  clear  musicaL 
tones,  and  the  purity  and  innocence  of  every  word 
and  thought.  Yesterday  that  woman  (0,  it  could 
not  have  been  you ! )  was  coarse,  hoarse,  vulgar, 
and  even  profane.  0  Wellie,  my  nearest,  dearest 
friend,  how  can  I  tell  them  your  story !  Yet  I 
must  tell  them,  for  it  may  serve  to  prevent  the 
transformation  of  some  other  woman's  friend; 
and,  besides,  you  will  not  mind  it,  I  know,  for  the 
curses  you  gave  me  when  I  entreated  you  to  re- 
turn to  the  ways  of  virtue  are  strong  evidence 
that  you  are  beyond  the  reach  of  human  counsel, 
and  that  there  is  no  modesty  or  sense  of  shame 
remaining. 

Wellie  Wallace  was  once  an  ornament  to  so- 
ciety, and  her  character  was  noble,  high-minded, 
generous,  and  pure.  Her  life  was  as  full  of  hope 
as  that  of  the  fairest  maid  that  breathes.  But 
to  her  heroism  (strange  as  it  may  seem)  is  due  the 
great  change  in  her  moral,  mental,  and  physical  con- 
dition. She  loved  a  navy  officer,  and  toward  him 
her  whole  soul  went  out  in  the  purest  and  most 


A  HARD-HEARTED   MOTHER.  45 

confiding  admiration.  He  loved  her  truly  and  sin- 
cerely, as  I  firmly  believe,  and  intended  to  make 
her  his  wife  as  soon  as  she  had  finished  the  edu- 
cation for  which  he  supplied  the  means.  She  stud- 
ied hard,  and  was  deserving  of  all  his  praise  for 
her  astonishing  progress.  She  loved  refined  and 
educated  company,  and  the  librarians  all  knew  her 
face  and  bowed  when  she  approached.  But,  alas  ! 
it  seemed  as  if  she  had  been  lifted  to  this  great 
height  only  that  she  might  sink  the  deeper  when 
the  fall  came. 

Her  lover  had  a  hard-faced,  aristocratic  mother, 
who  regarded  her  own  family  as  a  higher  order  of 
beings  than  the  world  usually  saw,  and  she  could 
not  bear  the  thought  of  a  marriage  in  which  her 
son  would  unite  with  a  person  once  a  "  shop-girl." 
So  she  opposed  the  marriage  in  every  annoying 
way.  But,  notwithstanding  all  her  threats,  the 
young  man  was  true  to  "VVellie  and  his  promise. 
At  last  the  old  widow  conceived  the  idea  of  at- 
tacking the  other  party,  and,  without  consulting 
her  son,  took  her  fine  carriage  and  was  driven  to 
the  residence  where  Wellie  lived.  Poor  Wellie  ! 
She  was  taken  by  surprise,  and  she  lost  the  bat- 
tle almost  without  a  show  of  resistance.  For  the 
old  lady  said  that  her  son  was  dissipated,  in  debt, 
and  unable  to  live  on  his  salary;  and  that  if 
he  married  Wellie,  all  his  family  would  disown 
him  and  leave  him  penniless.  She  knew  that 


46  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

if  lie  was  disowned  he  would  lose  his  place  in 
the  navy,  and  nothing  but  a  life  of  drunken 
poverty  would  follow,  and  perhaps  an  unnatural 
death ;  while,  if  Wellie  would  release  him,  she,  his 
mother,  would  settle  a  fortune  upon  him,  and  he 
could  marry  an  heiress  and  become  the  great  man 
that  she  had  always  expected  him  to  be.  A  de- 
cision was  demanded  at  once,  for  on  that  very  day 
the  fortune  was  to  be  made  or  lost.  What  could 
Wellie  do  but  follow  the  promptings  of  a  noble, 
disinterested  love  ?  and  although  it  was  crushing 
her  soul  into  nothingness,  she  consented  in  tears 
to  let  him  go.  She  wrote  the  letter  at  the  old 
lady's  dictation,  bidding  him  never  to  come  again, 
and  with  desperation  signed  her  name  in  that  cold 
way,  without  prefix  or  affix,  and  gave  it  to  his. 
mother.  The  old  woman  was  overjoyed  at  her 
success,  and,  caring  little  for  that  heart  whose  joy 
had  forever  fled,  she  hurried  to  her  son,  and,  taking 
him  away,  tried  to  win  his  affection  from  Wellie, 
She  knew  the  arts  and  temptations  which  would 
lure  him  from  his  old  love,  and  finally  he  married 
the  heiress  whom  his  mother  had  selected  for  him, 
and  people  declared  in  their  ignorance  that  it  was  a 
"  lucky  match." 

From  that  day  when  Wellie  came  and  told  me 
her  great  sorrow  and  wildly  called  for  death,  I  saw 
no  more  of  her  until  yesterday ;  although  I  had 
heard  that  he  had  written  her,  and  offered  to  fly  with 


THE   ORPHAN  ACTRESS.  47 

her  and  leave  his  luxurious  home ;  and  that  Wellie 
refused  to  so  punish  his  innocent  wife.  Yester- 
day she  was  —  But  I  will  not  describe  her  now, 
it  is  too  shocking.  I  love  to  think  of  her  only  as 
she  was  when  I  knew  her  and  loved  her  so  much. 


IV 

MANY  ol  my  readers  will  remember  Martha 
Varley,  who  rose  like  a  meteor  and  like  a  meteor 
fell.  It  seems  as  if  it  were  only  yesterday  that 
she  came  to  me  and  told  me  that  she  had,  through 
influential  friends,  secured  an  opportunity  to  go 
upon  the  stage.  She  had  a  passion  for  literature, 
and  her  life  seemed  to  exist  in  books.  The  works 
of  Pope,  Dryden,  Byron,  Shelley,  Mrs.  Hemans, 
Moore,  Tennyson,  and  Longfellow  lay  upon  her 
table,  with  those  of  Carlisle,  Addison,  Victor  Hugo, 
Schlegel,  Franklin,  Scott,  and  Dickens, — nearly  all 
the  gifts  of  friends,  and  were  dotted  and  crossed, 
from  title-page  to  finis,  with  marks  of  censure 
or  approval.  Her  wages  had  been  exceedingly 
small,  seldom  over  one  dollar  a  day,  and  she  was 
an  orphan.  Yet  she  managed  to  purchase  many 
books,  and  so  wonderful  was  her  memory  that  she 
could  repeat  Macbeth  and  Hamlet  by  heart. 

So  she  went  on  the  stage.  I  tried  to  dissuade 
her,  and  spoke  of  its  dangers  ;  for  stage  lovers,  like 
good  musicians  have  finer  feelings,  and  are  more 


48  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

easily  tempted  than  any  other  class.  But  she  drew 
for  me  so  graphically  the  scenes  she  loved,  and 
spoke  so  earnestly  of  the  joy  it  would  give  her  to 
earn  sufficient  wages  to  purchase  all  the  books  she 
desired,  at  the  same  time  promising  so  resolutely 
and  touchingly  that  she  would  certainly  avoid  the 
pits  into  which  so  many  others  had  fallen,  that  I 
at  last  consented. 

Her  first  appearance  was  advertised  for  a  suc- 
ceeding night,  and  I  went  to  the  theatre,  that  she 
might  have  the  encouragement  which  she  said  the 
presence  of  her  friends  would  give  her.  She  was 
not  given  a  leading  part,  because  the  managers 
were  afraid  that  she  lacked  confidence  in  herself ; 
but  they  promised  that  she  should  have  such  a 
place  on  the  following  week,  provided  they  were 
pleased  with  her  first  attempt. 

The  play  had  passed  into  the  second  act  before 
she  appeared,  and  as  it  was  awkwardly  put  upon 
the  stage  and  many  of  the  players  were  bunglers, 
the  audience  were  getting  quite  tired.  Some  left 
the  house  in  the  midst  of  the  best  scenes,  and  the 
occupants  of  the  galleries  began  to  hiss  and  whis- 
tle. I  cannot  describe  my  feelings  as  the  time 
drew  nearer  for  Martha's  appearance,  and  the  dis- 
satisfaction grew  more  and  more  evident.  What 
should  I  do  ?  I  could  neither  go  nor  stay,  and 
I  became  so  excited  that  my  escort  inquired  if 
I  were  ill.  I  wanted  to  go  and  warn  her  to  aban- 


ON  THE  STAGE.  49 

don  the  attempt  until  another  night.  But  so  con- 
flicting were  my  emotions  that  the  scene  changed 
and  Martha  appeared  while  I  was  in  my  seat. 
The  audience  were  laughing  and  talking  aloud ; 
and  many  were  throwing  bits  of  paper  about  the 
hall,  while  others  were  showing  their  displeasure 
by  shrill  hissing  and  hooting.  I  expected  that 
Martha  would  hesitate  and  tremble,  and  I  did  not 
think  that  in  the  face  of  those  obstacles  she  could 
open  her  mouth  to  speak.  But  she  came  on  as  nat- 
urally and  unconcernedly  as  the  oldest  actors,  and 
with  a  calm,  deferential  manner  undertook  her  part. 
She  was  a  beautiful  woman  at  any  time,  but  in  the 
rich  stage  dress,  decorated  with  tinsel  and  spark- 
ling beads,  she  did  appear  to  me  like  an  angel. 
The  audience  recognized  her  beauty,  while  they 
seemed  to  cower  into  silence  before  her  pure  and 
intellectual  face.  She  had  not  spoken  a  word  be- 
fore the  audience  were  wrapped  in  attention,  and 
at  the  first  sentence  the  applause  began.  On  went 
the  scene,  and  Martha  glided  in  and  out,  and  so 
much  heart  did  she  put  into  her  words  that  she  held 
the  closest  attention  of  the  audience  until  she 
tripped  from  the  stage  amid  almost  deafening  ap- 
plause. She  saved  the  reputation  of  the  company ; 
and  the  appreciative  managers,  in  response  to  the 
united  demand  of  audience  and  press,  gave  her  a 
leading  part  on  the  following  Monday  evening. 
The  house  was  crowded  in  every  part  for  many 

3  D 


50  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

•weeks,  and  she  was  made  the  "  star  actress  "  of  a 
long  and  prosperous  season,  after  which  she  visited 
several  of  the  largest  cities  of  America. 

Soon  she  became  so  noted,  and  received  such  a 
large  income,  that  she  had  a  well-furnished  house 
of  her  own,  with  a  library  of  her  own  selection. 
People  said  that  she  was  rich,  and  I  thought  so  too, 
as  she  began  gradually  to  withdraw  from  her  old 
friends  and  to  prefer  the  society  of  flatterers  and 
gay  people  of  the  world.  Soon  she  was  too  exalted 
to  feel  at  home  in  my  society,  and  our  companion- 
ship entirely  ceased.  That  was  more  than  twelve 
years  ago,  during  which  time  I  had  lost  all  trace 
of  my  old  confidante,  and  seldom  thought  of  her 
otherwise  than  as  gifted,  rich,  and  happy. 

On  the  evening  of  the  27th  of  October,  1869,  as 
I  was  coming  from  a  poor  family  to  whose  assist- 
ance I  had  been  called,  and  who  lived  in  the  low- 
est and  dirtiest  part  of  Boston,  I  met  upon  the 
sidewalk  a  ragged,  besotted  woman,  whose  bloated 
face,  bloodshot  eyes,  and  unsteady  step  indicated 
the  presence  of  that  demon  of  drunkenness,  and 
whose  uncombed  hair  and  filthy  apparel  "showed 
the  absence  of  all  shame  or  neatness.  When  she 
was  about  to  pass  me,  I  stepped  off  the  sidewalk 
to  give  her  room,  and  scrutinized  her  features. 
She  did  not  look  up  as  she  passed,  but  there  \vas 
something  about  the  features  which  seemed  famil- 
iar, and  almost  before  I  was  aware  of  my  own 


THE  VAGRANT.  51 

conclusion,  I  shudderingly  gave  a  whispered  excla- 
mation, and  the  word  "  Martha  ?  "  escaped  my  lips. 
The  woman  started  as  if  she  had  been  dealt  a  furi- 
ous blow,  darted  a  frightened  glance  at  me,  and 
then  began  to  run.  But,  stopping  only  a  few  paces 
farther  away,"  she  again  turned  toward  me,  and, 
clenching  her  hands  above  her  head  and  turning 
her  red  eyes  heavenward,  exclaimed,  "  0  Jennie, 
can  it  be  that  I  am  discovered  by  you  ?  O  my 
God,  could  not  I  have  died  without  this  torture  ? 
Jennie,  for  old  friends'  sake,  0  don't,  don't  think 
it  is  me !  It  is  n't  me !  it  is  n't  me  ! "  Then,  paus- 
ing for  a  moment,  as  if  to  recall  the  past,  she  struck 
her  breast  a  heavy  blow,  saying,  — 

"  No,  it  is  not  me.  Your  old  friend  Martha  died 
years  ago.  I  'm  only  the  moving  skeleton." 

And  before  I  could  reply  she  turned  again,  and, 
like  a  frightened  doe,  sped  down  the  street  and 
around  a  corner;  and  doubtless  passed  from  my 
sight  forever. 

V. 

IN  1867  there  was  called  up  in  the  dock  of  the 
Philadelphia  police-court  a  large  man,  whose  high 
forehead  and  bright  eyes  attracted  the  attention  of 
every  one  in  court.  As  he  stood  up  in  answer  to 
his  name,  the  crowd  gazed  upon  him  with  silent 
astonishment,  and  seemed  to  feel  that  a  great  soul 
lived  within  the  prisoner,  —  too  great  to  be  accused 


52  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

of  crime.  It  was  "  Willard  the  gambler."  He  was 
one  of  the  finest  classical  scholars  of  the  time, 
and  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  were  as  familiar 
to  him  as  to  the  most  learned  professors,  and  he 
could  converse  with  Frenchmen,  Germans,  and 
Italians  with  astonishing  fluency.  'He  was  a  first- 
class  literary  critic,  and  a  far-seeing  politician, 
whose  interest  in  passing  events  was  so  great 
that  there  was  scarcely  a  periodical  in  the  United 
States  to  which  he  was  not  a  subscriber.  Yet  he 
was  the  greatest  gambler  in  Philadelphia. 

When  the  little  judge,  who  seemed  to  be  smaller 
in  the  presence  of  this  majestic  form,  asked  the 
gambler  what  he  had  to  say  for  himself,  his  reply 
was,  "  Nothing." 

"  But,"  said  the  Judge,  "  have  you  nothing  to 
say  when  a  man  of  your  talent  and  education  is 
brought  up  as  a  common  gambler  ? " 

"  May  it  please  your  Honor,"  exclaimed  the  gam- 
bler, excitedly,  "  I  said  that  I  had  nothing  to  say, 
because  my  actions  are  all  the  justification  I  have 
to  plead.  Blackstone,  Chitty,  and  Choate  have 
declared,  as  your  Honor  well  knows,  that  law  is  for 
the  protection  of  society  against  its  enemies.  My 
actions  show  that  I  am  not  an  enemy  to  society. 
It  is  well  known  that  I  play  with  none  but 
wealthy  men,  while  the  sums  I  win  are  given  to 
the  poor,  or  used  in  educating  such  young  men  as 
have  genius  but  no  money.  If  you  condemn  me 


THE   GAMBLER.  —  CHARITY.  53 

to  confinement,  fifty  boys  must  be  taken  from 
school,  and  a. hundred  mouths  in  this  city  will  go 
unfed.  I  am  not  a  gambler  from  choice,  but  from 
necessity.  And  my  games  are  not  antagonistic  to 
society.  Its  present  structure  is  such  that  I  must 
game  that  others  may  be  honest  and  noble,  while 
to  be  arrested  and  fined  or  imprisoned  is  a  sacrifice 
I  gladly  make  to  sustain  the  dignity  of  the  law, 
which  I  shall  be  obliged,  however,  to  break  as  soon 
as  I  am  released." 

VI. 

TWENTY  years  ago,  in  the  town  of  Somerville, 
Mass.,  there  lived  an  aristocratic  man  and  wife 
whom  the  world  said  were  well  worthy  of  their 
riches  and  position.  They  were  both  generous, 
gifted,  and  active,  full  of  good  works,  and  never 
lacking  in  sympathy  for  those  whose  scale  of  being 
was  socially  below  them.  They  were  reported  to 
possess  fabulous  riches  because  they  were  so  gen- 
erous with  their  money  and  never  turned  a  deserv- 
ing suppliant  away  empty.  They  were  also  proud, 
and  looked  upon  their  position  in  society  as  on 
something  deserving  of  praise.  But  their  riches 
were  not  fabulous ;  neither  was  their  income  suffi- 
cient to  feed  all  the  poor  of  Massachusetts,  and  con- 
sequently their  means  began  io  fail  They,  how- 
ever, worked  diligently  with  mind  and  hands  to 
sustain  their  position  and  fortune.  The  wife,  with 


54  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

commendable  industry,  obtained  sewing,  and  the 
sewing-machine  for  the  time  took  the  place  of  the 
piano.  The  husband  worked  early  and  late  in  his 
store,  and  but  for  a  sudden  and  unforeseen  reverse 
by  which  he  lost  his  whole  stock  in  trade,  he 
would  doubtless  have  repaired  their  fortune. 

With  his  reverses  and  disappointments  came 
recklessness  and  despair,  and  in  a  darker  hour  than 
he  usually  saw  he  forged  a  note  in  hope  of  recov- 
ering himself  without  disgrace,  and  believing  that 
he  could  pay  the  note  before  the  party  concerned 
should  know  of  it.  Of  course  he  failed,  was  ar- 
rested, and  sentenced  to  fifteen  years'  servitude  in 
the  State  prison.  Even  Eufus  Choate's  eloquence 
could  not  save  him.  His  wife,  in  her  anxiety 
to  save  her  husband  from  such  disgrace,  sold  her 
jewelry,  furniture,  dresses,  and  everything  to  raise 
the  money,  which  the  party  whose  name  was 
forged  would  not  take  in  lieu  of  her  husband's 
release.  Soon  after  he  died  in  prison. 

Then  she  fell  into  recklessness  and  sin,  and 
became  but  a  wreck  of  the  high-minded  creature 
she  once  was.  At  last,  arrested  for  common 
drunkenness,  she  was  sentenced  to  three  years' 
confinement  in  the  house  of  correction.  There, 
away  from  liquor  and  vile  associates,  the  natural 
greatness  of  her  soul  began  again  to  show  itself, 
and  in  her  leisure  time  she  wrote  a  poem  so 
full  of  deep  and  tender  emotion,  so  polished  and 


THE  PRISON   POET. — SAVING  WOMAN.          55 

thoughtful,  that  it  was  copied  in  nearly  all  of  the 
best  periodicals  of  the  land,  and  received  praises 
of  which  Tennyson  might  well  be  proud.  The 
only  lines  which  I  now  recall  are  these, — 

"  Would  you  know  why  I  'm  leagued  with  this  Despair  ?  — 
Because  hell  is  heaven  if  he  is  there." 

She  afterwards  wrote  an  article  entitled  "  The  Af- 
fectionate Lowly,"  in  which  she  gave  a  sketch  of 
her  life,  and  referred  to  the  beggars  and  the  needy 
whom  her  husband  had  fed,  and  told  —  O  so 
touchingly! — how  those  outcast  mendicants  cared 
for  her  when  she  was  reduced  to  their  level.  How 
they  carried  her  home  when  intoxicated,  took  her 
part  when  she  was  assailed,  and  offered  their  last 
cent  in  the  payment  of  her  fine  when  she  was 
arrested.  "Verily,"  says  she,  "even  the  thieves 
and  beggars  have  a  generous  friendship  which  I 
never  knew  in  the  days  of  high  life." 

TO 

"  SHE  is  not  worth  saving,"  said  a  police-officer 
one  night,  in  Chicago,  when,  as  he  was  dragging  a 
drunken  child  of  shame  along  toward  the  station- 
house,  he  was  accosted  by  a  woman  with  the 
words,  "  Why  not  try  to  reform  and  save  her  ? " 

She  is  not  worth  saving!  ah,  how  concisely 
did  that  officer  express  the  sentiment  of  human 
society  toward  the  unfortunate  women.  Man  may 


56  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

fall  again  and  again,  may  dwell  in  the  gutter 
for  years,  and  become  a  loathsome,  diseased, 
besotted  wretch,  and  yet  it  is  never  said  of  him, 
"  He  is  not  worth  saving."  On  the  contrary,  the 
people  seem  to  think  that  a  man  who  has  been 
a  libertine  and  a  drunkard  has  done  some  noble 
thing,  and  it  is  all  to  his  credit  if,  after  his  reform, 
he  should  even  run  for  public  office,  or  become  a 
public  lecturer.  Ay  !  if  he  falls  several  times 
after  having  once  reformed,  it  adds  to  his  dignity, 
and  increases  his  influence.  "What  audience  would 
gather  to  listen  to  a  reformed  woman  ?  or  what 
office  opens  its  doors  to  her  ?  None.  Once  an 
outcast  she  seems  in  the  eyes  of  society  to  be  an 
outcast  forever.  Not  worth  saving  !  0  that  I 
could  for  once  force  open  that  barrier  to  progress, 
the  mock  modesty  of  society,  and  feel  at  liberty  to 
tell  without  curses  or  hisses  the  plain,  simple  facts 
which  have  been  forced  into  my  pathway  as  I 
have  tried  to  aid  the  unfortunate.  Not  worth 
saving!  Bright  little  children  I  know,  as  in- 
nocent as  the  blush  of  morning,  whose  widowed 
mothers  are  leading  a  life  of  social  crime  to  sup- 
port those  children  as  they  need  to  be  supported. 
Aged  parents  I  know,  living  in  happy  ease,  little 
dreaming  that  their  dear  daughter  earns  the  money 
which  supports  them  in  an  unlawful  manner,  or 
that  they  might  starve  if  she  was  pure  and  honest. 
More  than  this.  Husbands  I  know,  and  I  see  their 


"NOT  WORTH  SAVING."  57 

pale  faces  often  now,  whose  wives  have  failed  to 
get  bread  and  medicine  for  them  in  a  legitimate 
way,  and  in  their  despair  have  become  awful  crim- 
inals for  very  love's  sake.  You  who  doubt  my 
word — and  such  there  may  be  —  have  only  to  go  to 
the  criminals  in  the  docks,  and  confess  yourself  a 
friend  of  the  wretched  and  unfortunate,  to  be  con- 
vinced beyond  a  doubt.  Hundreds  are  criminals 
for  food,  others  from  despair.  Few  indeed  are  the 
women  that  are  in  the  way  of  vice  from  choice. 
Thousands  would  reform  if  they  could,  but  at 
every  attempt  the  heartless  hand  of  society  thrusts 
them  indignantly  back.  "  There  is  a  light  in  the 
window  for  thee,  brother  "  ;  but  no  one  ever  heard 
of  one  there  for  his  sister. 

Not  that  I  would  censure  the  efforts  made  to 
reform  fallen  men.  For  God  knows  that  I  rejoice 
at  the  salvation  of  every  human  being,  and  while 
my  heart  gladdens  at  what  is  done  for  man,  it  only 
makes  a  darker  picture  of  what  is  not  done  for 
woman.  To  save  every  being  to  whom  the  Al- 
mighty has  given  a  human  soul  would  seem  to  be 
the  true  theory.  But  discussion  finds  place  better 
perhaps  in  subsequent  chapters,  and  as  it  is  facts 
that  I  am  now  giving,  I  will  relate  one  more,  and 
for  the  present  pass  over  a  topic  about  which,  if 
the  world  would  receive  it,  a  thousand  volumes 
could  be  written. 

3* 


58  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

VIII. 

IT  has  been  but  a  few  months  since  I  visited 
the  "  Prisoner's  Friend/'  at  Pawtucket,  K.  I.,  whose 
generosity  toward  the  prisoners,  as  well  as  his  ec- 
centric manners,  have  made  him  somewhat  notori- 
ous in  the  New  England  States.  He  has  given  the 
convicts  many  Christmas  dinners,  and  supplied 
many  a  suffering  man  with  money  while  working 
out  a  sentence  for  crime.  He  has  devoted  his 
whole  life  to  the  alleviation  of  suffering  within  the 
prison  walls.  Hundreds  of  men  are  the  recipients 
of  his  favors  who  never  saw  him  or  heard  of  him, 
until  the  present  came  which  he  prepared  with 
his  own  hands.  His  cabinet  is  full  of  keepsakes, 
souvenirs  and  relics  of  prison  life ;  and  with 
each  there  is  connected  a  story,  most  thrilling 
when  told  in  his  simple,  affectionate  way. 

Having  a  long  chain  of  gold  pieces  combined 
in  a  most  curious  manner,  I  inquired  what  it  was 
for.  In  his  characteristically  queer  way  he  spoke 
of  the  chain  which  was  placed  upon  the  neck  of  the 
Prodigal  Son,  and  said  that  this  chain  was  made 
by  himself  for  a  prisoner  who  was  serving  out  a 
sentence  of  sixteen  years'  servitude  for  the  murder 
of  a  young  man  who  seduced  the  prisoner's  be- 
trothed. The  prisoner,  he  said,  was  an  honest, 
innocent  farmer's  boy,  while  the  seducer  was  rich 
and  aristocratic,  profligate  and  drunken  ;  and  such 


THE  PRISONER'S  FRIEND.  .  59 

a  nobleness  of  character  had  the  prisoner  displayed 
in  prison  that  the  chain  was  prepared  with  which 
to  welcome  his  return.  From  this  circumstance 
conversation  passed  to  others,  and  instance  after 
instance  was  cited  where  men  had  become  crim- 
inals through  injustice,  cruelty,  or  unkindness. 
Murderers,  robbers,  thieves,  and  swindlers  came 
before  me,  as,  in  his  fascinating  way,  he  moved  the 
curtain  of  his  conversational  panorama,  and  I  felt 
even  more  forcibly  than  ever  before  how  many 
criminals  are  such  from  necessity,  and  how  much 
wickedness  the  individuals  of  our  States  and  com- 
munities have  to  answer  for,  which  in  this  present 
time  is  loaded  upon  the  shoulders  of  their  instru- 
ments in  prison. 


CHAPTEK  V. 

NEWSBOYS  AND   BOOTBLACKS. 

Success  in  Life.  —  Their  Genius  and  Education.  —  Newsboys' 
"Home."  —  Dividing  the  Profits.  —  You  may  borrow,  but 
you  shall  never  pay. 

I. 

IT  is  not  my  purpose  to  give  in  this  chapter  the 
many  cases  where  bootblacks  and  newsboys 
have  become  wealthy  and  influential  men ;  for 
many  whose  names  I  find  in  the  "scrap-book" 
would  object  to  the  publication  of  their  lives.  A 
correspondent  of  the  Boston  Traveller,  writing  in 
1857,  stated  that  there  were  then  "  ten  leading 
editors  of  New  York  who  were  once  newsboys,  — 
four  in  Boston,  twelve  in  Philadelphia,  and  fifteen 
in  Chicago."  The  newsboys,  however,  oftener 
seek  other  employments,  and  a  far  greater  number 
of  them  are  now  among  the  merchants,  army  offi- 
cers, politicians,  and  representatives  of  our  coun- 
try, than  in  the  editorial  fraternity ;  while  men 
who  once  blacked  boots  on  the  corners  or  in  the 
hotels  are  to  be  found  now  in  nearly  every  com- 


NATURE   AND   THE   BOOTBLACKS.  61 

munity  as  manufacturers,  merchants,  aldermen, 
mayors,  and  congressmen  ;  and  even  governors  and 
senators  have  started,  when  boys,  in  the  same  hum- 
ble trade.  The  reason  why  so  many  boys  in  this 
profession  have  succeeded  so  well  in  life  is  because 
the  natural  qualifications  which  fit  them  for  boot- 
blacks and  newsboys  are  elements  of  success  in 
the  higher  branches  of  labor  and  trade.  A  suc- 
cessful newsboy  or  an  accomplished  shoeblack 
will  make  as  shrewd  a  trade  as  a  Jew,  and  will 
weigh  all  its  advantages  and  disadvantages  with 
the  wisdom  of  a  banker.  This  is  owing,  no  doubt, 
partially  to  his  street  education.  But  to  argue  that 
he  is  indebted  to  that  for  all  his  talent  would  be  to 
prove  that  boys  in  higher  circles,  who  do  not  have 
that  hard  training,  are  always  unfit  to  conduct  the 
business  which  the  newsboy  seems  to  understand 
so  well.  If  there  were  not  many  thousand  people 
succeeding  in  life  who  never  had  this  training, 
then  we  might  think  that  successful  bootblacks 
owed  their  wealth  and  position  to  the  discipline 
which  their  early  trade  gave  them.  Culture  and 
refinement  are  excellent  helpmeets  for  a  natural 
genius,  and  none  appreciate  the  advantages  of  an 
education  more  than  he  does.  But  neither  study 
nor  "  accomplishments  "  ever  made  a  successful  man 
of  a  person  in  whose  construction  Nature  omitted 
the  gift  of  genius ;  while  the  world  is  full  of  men 
and  women  whose  natural  endowments,  without 


62  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

educational  additions  such  as  society  now  esteems, 
have  made  them  leaders  in  the  greatest  and  wor- 
thiest undertakings  of  their  age.  As  a  class  in 
the  community,  the  bootblacks  and  newsboys  are 
naturally  the  brightest,  the  shrewdest,  and  the 
wittiest. 

II. 

SEVERAL  laudable  attempts  have  been  made  in 
the  larger  cities  of  America  and  Europe  to  estab- 
lish "  Homes  "  for  these  boys,  where  they  could 
get  a  good  bed  and  palatable  meals  at  the  lowest 
cost  price.  Several  of  these  institutions  are  now 
in  operation,  and,  according  to  the  reports  of  super- 
intendents, are  doing  a  great  deal  of  good.  It  is 
said  that  boys  who  slept  in  door-ways  and  on  the 
wharves  before  measures  were  taken  to  give  them 
a  better  place  now  sleep  in  nice  beds,  and  learn  to 
comb  their  hair,  wash  their  faces,  and  behave  like 
little  gentlemen.  It  is  said,  too,  that  the  little 
laborers  are  taught  to  place  their  money  in  the 
bank,  and  to  provide  for  themselves  with  economy 
and  care.  All  of  which  is  doubtless  true,  and  re- 
flects great  credit  upon  the  generosity  of  the  pro- 
jectors and  supporters  of  those  institutions.  But, 
for  reasons  which  will  hereafter  be-  explained,  it 
seems  to  me  as  if  all  these  "  Homes,"  as  well  as 
every  place  of  the  kind  secured  for  the  purpose  of 
charitably  assisting  the  industrious  poor,  had  much 


"BOOTBLACKS'  HOME."  —  "HERALD,  ONE  CENT."  63 

better  be  abandoned,  and  the  money  expended  in 
missionary  work  among  the  wealthy.  To  give  the 
bootblack  a  "  Home "  which  he  could  not  pro- 
vide for  himself  takes  away  his  independence  and 
educates  him  into  the  habit  of  leaning  upon  other 
people,  while  the  system  which  made  and  kept 
him  poor  is  as  much  in  force  as  ever;  and  the 
closing  of  a  "  Home "  leaves  the  bootblacks  who 
come  into  the  field  afterward  no  better  chance  for 
a  livelihood  than  their  predecessors  had  before  the 
"  Home  "  was  established.  "  It  may  prolong  life, 
but  it  does  not  cure  the  disease." 


III. 

A  GENTLEMAN  was  walking  down  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfares  of  Boston  late  one  night  in 
winter,  during  a  heavy  storm  of  sleet  and  snow, 
when  he  heard  the  newsboy's  cry  of  "  Herald ! 
only  one  cent."  The  tone  of  voice  was  so  plaintive, 
and  the  streets  so  deserted,  that  the  gentleman  was 
touched  with  pity,  and  stopped  at  a  corner  to  lis- 
ten for  its  repetition.  Again  it  came,  so  subdued 
and  sorrowful,  "  Herald,  only  one  cent ! "  "  Ah  ! " 
said  the  gentleman  to  himself,  as  he  muffled  closer 
in  his  great-coat,  "  that  poor  little  fellow  has  lost 
money  to-day,  and  is  now  hoping  to  save  himself 
from  total  loss  by  reducing  the  price  of  the  paper. 
I'll  call  to  him  and  buy  all  that  he  has  left." 


64  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Soon  the  cry  was  again  heard  nearer  than  before, 
and,  calling  the  nimble  little  tradesman  to  him,  the 
gentleman  purchased  seven  papers,  and,  giving  the 
boy  twenty-five  cents,  refused  any  change.  The 
astonished  boy  took  the  piece  of  money,  but,  fear- 
ing that  it  might  be  a  counterfeit,  he  rushed  to  the 
street-lamp  to  examine  it.  Doing  so,  he  exhibited 
to  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  donor  his  little  blue 
feet,  the  only  covering  of  which  was  a  pair  of  tat- 
tered cloth  shoes,  his  benumbed  and  gloveless  fin- 
gers, and  his  scarfless  neck.  Having  satisfied  him- 
self of  the  genuineness  of  the  coin,  he  asked  the 
gentleman  if  he  was  not  "  strange,"  *  after  which 
he  walked  away  with  a  hearty  "  thank  you."  The 
gentleman,  however,  had  not  proceeded  far  on  his 
way  before  he  heard  the  newsboy  calling  out  for  a 
companion ;  and,  curious  to  know  what  would  be- 
come of  them,  the  gentleman  turned  back  to  listen 
to  their  conversation.  He  approached  close  to  the 
boys,  unnoticed,  just  as  they  met  under  the  lamp- 
light, and  heard  the  following  colloquy :  — 

Bob.  "  Look  o'  here,  Bill,  I  Ve  jest  seen  a  chap 
what 's  cracked,  I  '11  bet.  For  he  guv  me  a  quarter 
of  a  dollar  for  seven  papers,  and  said  he  didn't 
want  any  change ;  just  as  if  that  was  the  price  of 
'em." 

Bill.  "  Say,  can't  we  catch  him  and  get  him  to 
buy  mine,  too  ? " 

*  Newsboys'  phrase,  meaning  insane. 


THE   CONSIDERATE  NEWSBOY.  65 

Bob.  "  Maybe  !  but  then  I  would  n't,  Bill,  'cause 
why,  it  looks  ter  me  like  ridin'  a  free  hoss  to  death. 
But  I  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  Now  the  regular 
price  of  my  papers  would  have  been  fourteen  cents, 
and  as  I  've  got  eleven  cents  more  'n  I  'd  orter  hev, 
and  you  hain't  sold  your  papers,  I  '11  give  you  the 
extra  eleven  cents,  and  we'll  get  suthin'  to  eat 
somewhar  and  divide  the  expenses." 

Bill.  "  No,  Bob,  I  won't  take  nothin'  unless  I 
can  borrer  it,  for  I  ain't  goin'  ter  allers  be  so  unfor- 
tinit  as  I  Ve  been  ter-day.  I  '11  borrer  and  pay 
again  to-morrow  or  the  day  arter." 

Bob.  "  Wai,  Bill,  I  '11  lend  it  to  yer,  'cause  we  're 
cold  and  have  nothin'  ter  eat,  on  the  sacred  prom- 
ise tket  yer  never  try  ter  pay  it  back  again." 

Here  the  gentleman  interrupted  the  dialogue, 
and  giving  them  a  dollar,  left  the  little  shivering 
brothers  to  secure  their  coveted  supper  and  lodg- 
ings, if  the  poor  things  were  so  fortunate  as  to  find 
any. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

SHOP-GIELS. 

Who  are  Shop-Girls.  —  Their  Condition.  —  The  little  "Cash- 
Girl." —  Female  Clerks.  —  Their  Trials.  —  What  Society  owes 
them.  —  The  Tailor-Shops.  —  Acts  of  Kindness.  —  Ability  of 
the  Shop  Hands. 

I. 

rTlHEEE  is  probably  no  class  of  persons  in  New 
-L  England  who  are  so  necessary  to  its  prosperi- 
ty, and  at  the  same  time  so  little  noticed  or  cared 
for,  as  the  shop-girls.  They  are  to  be  found  in 
every  department  of  trade,  in  nearly  every  work- 
shop and  manufactory ;  and  every  business  man  or 
woman  is  brought  in  constant  contact  with  them. 
Behind  the  counter,  at  the  book-keeper's  desk,  in 
the  packing-room,  at  the  sewing-machine  and 
needle  in  the  tailors'  shops,  and  in  all  the  positions 
that  require  light  hands  and  quick  thought  they 
are  seen  successfully  toiling  day  after  day  and  year 
after  year.  Yet,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  mil- 
linery and  fancy-goods  stores,  they  have  no  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  the  companies,  and  no  incen- 


WOMAN'S  WAGES.  67 

tive  but  that  of  wages.  Although  there  are  forty 
thousand  women  in  Massachusetts  alone,  who  can 
never  marry  unless  they  go  out  of  the  State  for 
husbands,  and  who  must  of  necessity  make  the 
same  preparation  for  their  future  sustenance  which 
a  young  man  makes  for  his  prospective  business 
life,  yet  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  hold  out 
to  the  girls  any  inducement  to  make  them  diligent 
and  honest.  No  promotion  of  any  worth,  no  future 
partnership,  no  prospective  wealth,  shows  its  glit- 
tering castles  ahead  to  inspire  their  zeal ;  and  the 
wages  which  they  receive  to-day  they  may  gen- 
erally expect  to  get  ten  years  from  to-day.  Just 
that  and  nothing  more.  They  are  always  serving, 
and  never  being  served ;  caring  for  immense  sums 
of  money  which  they  can  never  own,  making  fine 
clothes  they  can  never  wear,  handling  delicacies 
of  which  they  can  never  taste ;  and,  like  Tantalus, 
thirsty  and  surrounded  by  seas  of  water,  they  can 
never  drink.  These  are  the  "  shop-girls  "  as  dis- 
tinguished from  those  who  are  employed  in  the 
large  factories ;  and  on  them  as  much  depends  the 
mercantile  business  of  Massachusetts  as  the  manu- 
factures of  the  same  State  do  upon  the  factory- 
girls. 

II. 

BEHIND  the  counter  of  a  fancy-goods  store  and 
toy-shop  into  which  the  author  has  often  been 


68  NATURE'S  AEISTOCEACY. 

there  was  once  a  little  light-haired,  sunny-faced 
girl,  about  eight  years  old,  who  acted  as  "cash" 
girl  and  general  waiter.  Visitors  often  noticed 
her  as  she  ran  back  and  forth  between  clerk  and 
cashier  for  change,  or  between  clerk  and  customer 
with  bundles.  She  was  so  cheerful  and  nimble 
that  she  soon  became,  as  the  clerks  said,  "  a  fix- 
ture," and  the  occupants  felt  as  if  "  a  part  of  the 
store  had  vanished  "  when  little  Viola  was  absent. 
She  was  an  orphan,  and  had  been  taken  from  a 
Little  "Wanderers'  Home  as  an  act  of  charity.  She 
was  merely  clothed  and  fed,  without  being  adopted 
or  receiving  any  pay.  When  she  first  came  she 
asked  a  clerk  for  something  which  he  could  not 
give,  and  he  told  her  that  the  "  goods  were  for  cus- 
tomers, not  for  clerks  or  servants."  From  that 
time  she  never  asked  for  anything,  and  to  all 
appearance  was  wholly  satisfied  with  her  lot. 

She  saw  thousands  of  little  girls  about  her  age 
whose  mammas  came  with  them  to  purchase  nice 
new  dresses,  new  fancy  shoes,  little  hats,  picture- 
books,  nice  dolls,  puzzles,  carriages,  and  a  hundred 
toys  of  which  little  girls  are  so  fond,  and  she  car- 
ried them  from  the  clerk  to  the  wrapping-desk, 
and,  seeing  them  carefully  folded  in  clean  paper,  de- 
livered them  to  the  customers.  She  saw  the  pleased 
recipients  as  they  ran  joyfully  away  with  their 
presents,  and  wondered,  no  doubt,  why  everybody 
else  had  a  mamma  while  she  had  none.  Subse- 


THE  DYING   CASH-GIRL.  69 

quent  events  have  shown  that  she  was  constantly 
thinking  how  nice  it  would  be  if  she  could  have 
a  doll,  or  a  ball,  or  a  carriage,  although  I  am  told 
that  she  said  nothing  about  it  to  any  one.  She 
saw  all  those  desirable  toys  and  dresses  hanging 
and  lying  all  about  her,  the  possession  of  which 
would  have  made  her  little  heart  so  happy,  yet  she 
was  not  permitted  to  touch  one  unless  to  give  it 
to  some  more  fortunate  child,  who  was  blessed  with 
a  kind  mother. 

One  day  Viola  was  taken  sick,  whether  from 
hard  work  or  her  own  indiscretion  I  do  not  know ; 
but  she  was  so  ill  that  the  matron  of  the  house  in 
which  she  boarded,  after  consultation  with  her  em- 
ployer, called  a  physician.  The  man  of  medicine 
said  that  she  could  not  live,  and  advised  little  Viola 
to  make  up  her  mind  to  die.  She  knew,  however, 
nothing  about  death  or  a  hereafter,  and  the  matron 
called  a  city  missionary,  who  lived  but  a  short  dis- 
tance away,  and  asked  him  to  talk  with  Viola. 
This  the  good  man  did,  and  tried  to  impress  upon 
Viola's  mind  the  necessity  of  being  prepared,  and 
dwelt  especially  on  the  beauties  and  .comforts  to 
be  found  in  heaven.  Shortly  after  it  was  said  that 
she  was  dying,  and  the  physician,  missionary,  and 
several  boarders  gathered  sorrowfully  around  the 
little  girl's  bed  to  await  the  dissolution.  She  had 
been  for  an  hour  in  a  deep  stupor;  but,  a  few 
moments  before  she  died,  she  suddenly  opened  her 


70  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

eyes,  and,  stretching  her  thin  hands  toward  the 

missionary,  said, — 

"  Are  you  sure  that  I  shall  have  a  mamma  in 

heaven  ? " 

"  Yes,  darling,"  said  he,  "  she  will  be  there." 

"  0  then,"  said    she,    smiling,  "  /  know  that  I 

shall  have  a  doll  and  be  dressed  like  other  girls." 

III. 

THE  most  harassing  position  in  which  a  woman 
can  be  placed  is,  without  doubt,  behind  the  coun- 
ter in  a  dry-goods'  or  milliner's  store,  especially 
if,  as  is  usually  the  case,  her  wages  are  so  small 
that  she  cannot  dress  herself  in  what  she  considers 
a  neat  and  becoming  manner.  It  is  sufficiently 
annoying  to  be  obliged  to  appear  in  a  horse-car  or 
omnibus  with  a  number  of  ladies  who  are  dressed 
better  than  one's  self,  and  to  one  who  has  a  culti- 
vated taste  for  the  beautiful  it  is  a  serious  misfor- 
tune to  be  unable  to  gratify  it  in  the  preparation 
of  her  apparel;  but  when  one  is  obliged  to  face 
hundreds  of  ladies  every  day,  every  one  of  whom  is 
more  richly  and  perhaps  more  tastily  dressed,  and 
be  questioned  about  the  best  styles  or  the  most 
becoming  cut,  while  measuring  silks,  satins,  rib- 
bons, or  lace,  is  something  which  no  sensitive  mind 
can  withstand  without  pain.  "  How  would  you 
do  if  this  silk  dress  was  yours  ? "  "  Would  you 


TRIALS   OF  LADY  CLERKS.  71 

take  this  one-hundred-dollar  bonnet  or  the  one  at 
one  hundred  and  fifty  ?  "  "  Do  you  think  that  this 
color  is  suitable  for  one  of  my  complexion  ? "  "I 
can't  judge  by  your  dress,  for  shop-girls  never  dress 
decent."  "  Who  is  the  best  dressmaker  in  town  ? " 
"  Have  you  ever  had  a  skirt  like  this  or  that  ? " 
"  If  you  had  a  husband  to  buy  you  everything  you 
wanted,  what  dress  or  bonnet  would  you  select  ? " 
These,  and  myriads  of  questions  like  them,  are 
asked  of  the  lady  clerks  every  day,  keeping  their 
thoughts  on  dress  and  the  things  which  they 
would  like  to  possess,  and  creating  an  intense  de- 
sire for  dress  and  ornament,  all  of  which  they  see 
and  handle,  but  can  never  own.  They  stand  on 
their  feet  until  their  bones  ache,  and  measure  silks 
until  their  fingers  are  numb,  puzzle  their  heads 
through  ten  hours  of  constant  mathematical  calcu- 
lation, and  go  home  at  night  tired  and  disheart- 
ened, having  earned  just  enough,  perhaps,  to  pay 
their  board.  They  live  in  a  world  of  plenty,  and 
yet  have  nothing;  see  money  flowing  from  the 
hands  of  their  sex  as  free  as  water,  while  they  have 
none ;  and  often  receive  large  sums  for  goods  which 
they  know  are  squandered  in  frivolities  that  the 
buyers  are  better  off  without.  They  see  many 
purchasing  things  they  do  not  need,  and  investing 
money  in  gew-gaws  they  cannot  use,  while  she 
who  waits  upon  them  has  not  enough  for  the  com- 
mon comforts  of  the  body. 


72  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

I  say  that  it  is  a  painful  position  for  one  who 
is  endowed  with  an  appreciation  of  the  beautiful,  a 
taste  for  decoration,  and  a  sense  of  justice.  This, 
however,  does  not  apply  to  all  the  female  clerks 
who  are  found  at  the  counters  of  our  mercantile 
houses.  Some  are  not  only  satisfied  and  happy  in 
their  position,  but  show  unmistakable  signs  of 
their  fitness  for  the  place.  They  have  reached 
their  level ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  two  very 
simple  acts  of  justice,  society  owes  them  nothing. 
But  to  the  more  intellectually  endowed,  to  whom 
the  unseen  agents  of  Nature  keep  saying,  "You 
have  a  great  work  to  do,  why  stand  ye  here  idle  ? " 
the  counter  is  a  prison  to  the  gates  of  which  come 
few  of  the  minds  they  esteem,  and  within  which 
there  is  no  light,  no  joy,  no  satisfaction.  Many 
have  stopped  at  the  desk,  in  their  course  of  life, 
who  should  be  found  in  much  more  useful  circles, 
doing  the  work  which  Nature  demands  of  them. 
For  such  I  enter  my  plea.  Society  cannot  afford 
to  lose  their  services;  let  it  open  the  gates  to 
such  as  would  be  free. 


rv. 

NEEDLEWOMEN  a^id  machine-girls  doubtless  form 
the  largest  class  of  working-women  now  employed 
in  America;  and,  although  this  occupation  does 
not  require  much  natural  genius  or  great  skill,  yet 


SEWING-GIRLS.  73 

there  are  many  ininds  now  confined  to  it  which 
are  much  better  fitted  for  higher  and  more  influen- 
tial avocations.  It  is,  however,  when  conducted 
upon  the  system  usually  adopted  in  our  large 
cities,  the  most  wearisome  toil  for  both  mind  and 
body  in  which  women,  as  a  class,  can  at  present 
engage. 

It  being  an  honorable  employment  and  more  in- 
dependent than  that  of  a  servant  in  the  household, 
it  is  sought  by  the  most  intelligent  class  of  women, 
and  is  kept  by  many  through  all  the  toilsome 
years  of  life  because  they  cannot  see  in  all  that 
time  a  single  opportunity  for  bettering  their  con- 
dition. In  no  place  can  there  be  seen  such  men- 
tal variety  as  in  the  tailor-shops  where  girls  are 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing.  Of 
those  obscure  persons  who,  perhaps  in  rags,  perhaps 
in  silk,  come  for  their  bundles  of  work  in  the 
morning  and  happen  in  with  them  at  night,  I  can 
say  but  little.  Some  are,  without  doubt,  poor 
women  whose  families  would  go  unfed  if  they  did 
not  get  this  employment,  while  others  are  women 
in  easy  circumstances  and  perhaps  in  wealth,  who 
will  earn  enough  with  their  machine  in  a  few  hours 
to  pay  for  the  entire  day's  work  of  Martha  in  the 
kitchen.  The  latter  class  do  their  work  at  home, 
where  they  can  enjoy  the  society  of  their  families, 
and  be  cognizant  of  everything  that  is  transpiring 
in  the  busy  world  without;  and  although  their 


74  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

earnings  could  not  supply  one  half  their  wants, 
yet  with  other  means  of  support  this  employment 
makes  them  very  comfortable.  They  are  com- 
petitors with  the  shop-girls,  whose  only  income  is 
from  the  work  of  their  own  hands.  "While  the 
daughter  of  the  well-to-do  farmer  or  the  wife  of 
the  tradesman  are  taking  work  from  the  counter 
of  the  tailoring  establishments  and  doing  it  for  a 
very  small  compensation  in  order  to  occupy  their 
leisure  time  and  earn  a  little  "  pin  money,"  they 
are  decreasing  the  wages  of  those  who  must  depend 
entirely  upon  this  work  for  food  and  raiment,  but 
who  can  exist  on  so  small  pay  only  by  privation 
and  suffering.  It  may  be  surprising  to  many  of 
my  readers  to  learn  that  the  price  now  given  for 
the  making  of  sale  clothing  is  only  one  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  a  suit,  L  e.  fifty  cents  for  making 
the  coat,  fifty  cents  for  making  the  pants,  and  only 
twenty-five  cents  for  the  vest.  Linen  coats  are 
made  for  seventeen  cents  apiece,  and  shirts  for 
fifty  cents  a  dozen.  Even  ladies'  morning-dresses, 
which  are  now  included  in  sale  work,  are  cut  and 
made  for  thirty  cents  each.  These  are  the  ruling 
prices,  while  in  some  swindling  cases,  suits  of 
woollen  clothes  are  made  for  eighty-seven  cents, 
and  shirts  for  thirty-five  cents  per  dozen. 

It  cannot  be  expected  of  employers  that  they 
will  voluntarily  pay  one  person  more  money  for 
doing  a  certain  piece  of  work  than  they  give  to 


THE  TAILORESSES.  75 

another,  nor  can  they  be  induced  to  pay  a  shop- 
girl "  living  wages "  for  making  a  suit  of  clothes 
which  they  can  get  manufactured  elsewhere  for 
one  sixth  of  the  sum.  But  whether  they  get  more 
or  less  the  shop-girls  must  work,  and  are,  notwith- 
standing the  boasted  independence  of  the  trade, 
the  slaves  of  the  manufacturer.  He  may  or  may 
not  be  a  hard  master,  according  to  his  natural 
fitness  for  his  position ;  but  in  either  case  there 
is  but  little  independence,  as  they  must  work 
at  this  trade  and  can  have  no  control  of  their 
wages. 

In  those  large  establishments  in  New  England 
where  such  immense  quantities  of  clothing  are 
manufactured  for  the  "  ready-made  "  market,  there 
are  sometimes  several  hundred  girls  employed  in 
the  same  building ;  but  in  no  department,  from  the 
journeyman  tailors  to  the  "bushel- women"  and 
baste-girls,  can  it  be  said  that  the  employment  is 
in  any  way  a  measure  of  capacity.  They  are  fix- 
tures. Before  them  there  is  no  financial  prospect 
but  that  of  a  reduction  of  wages  when  country 
competition  is  increased ;  and  never  can  they 
see  a  partnership,  or  an  interest  in  the  profits 
of  their  labor,  as  the  result  of  a  few  years'  faithful 
service. 

In  the  city  of  Boston  there  are  eighteen  thousand 
tailoresses.  the  greater  number  of  whom  are  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  men's  clothing.  As 


76  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

a  class  they  are  moral,  intellectual,  and  refined  in 
their  literary  tastes.  They  support  lecturers  and 
ministers,  give  to  charitable  enterprises,  love  the 
fine  arts,  and  form  a  most  important  and  intelli- 
gent portion  of  the  community.  Many  of  them 
are  graduates  of  the  high  and  normal  schools  of  the 
State,  and  not  a  few  are  excellent  writers,  readers, 
and  public  speakers. 

Whenever  this  subject  presents  itself,  I  involun- 
tarily recall  the  scenes  in  a  large  clothing  estab- 
lishment of  Boston  which  for  many  personal  rea- 
sons are  still  fresh  in  my  memory.  Some  of  these 
recollections  are  pleasant  and  others  are  pain- 
ful, but  I  cannot  say  now  that  I  wish  to  cross  out 
any  of  them.  It  has  never  been  my  lot  to  witness 
a  more  pleasant  scene  than  that  of  the  sewing- 
room  when,  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  a 
hundred  fresh  and  cheerful  faces  flocked  into  the 
door- way  and  with  laughing  playfulness  took  their 
stations  at  the  bench  or  machine.  There  were 
friendships  formed  in  those  hours  of  toil  that  will 
never  be  forgotten,  and  acts  of  kindness  and  char- 
ity performed  which  will  not  soon  cease  to  give  sat- 
isfaction to  the  giver  as  well  as  to  the  receiver. 
There  were  exhibitions  of  affection,  of  integrity,  of 
ability,  and  of  honor,  the  memory  of  which  makes 
life  more  valuable  and  lends  a  charm  to  humanity 
which  I  have  not  found  in  such  potency  elsewhere. 
It  was  a  little  separate  community,  in  which  each 


THE  CHARITABLE   SEWING-GIRL.  77 

member  not  only  provided  for  herself,  but  kept  a 
careful  eye  upon  the  interests  of  the  others ;  and, 
if  in  the  race  of  toil  there  were  any  behind  when 
the  day  closed,  the  most  prosperous  ones  united 
in  the  assistance  of  the  less  fortunate.  A  happy 
family,  in  which  could  be  found  every  shade  of 
human  temperament,  and  every  grade  of  ability 
and  character;  but  in  which  there  never  came 
discord  unless  for  very  weighty  reasons.  In  that 
family  were  several  remarkable  characters,  the 
mention  of  which  will  contribute  toward  the  ob- 
ject for  which  this  book  is  written. 

V. 

ANNIE  MASDON  loved  flowers.  Any  observer 
would  have  known  this  by  the  cast  of  her  features. 
She  loved  them  because  Nature  had  made  her  like 
them.  They  were  her  fit  companions ;  and  she 
could  see  beauties  in  the  delicately  shaded  leaf,  the 
glossy  petals,  the  variegated  corollas,  and  the  modest 
buds  which  others  could  not  see.  They  bloomed 
just  the  same  where  the  world  did  not  see  them ; 
and  so  did  Annie.  They  freshened  the  desert  air 
with  the  same  divine  sweetness  that  they  shed  in 
the  windows  of  the  palace ;  and  Annie  was  like- 
wise as  genial  and  obliging  to  the  lowest  and  poor- 
est as  to  the  highest  and  richest.  They  were 
delicate  in  their  construction,  and  mentally  so  was 


78  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

she.  They  drew  all  their  "beauty  and  life  directly 
from  nature  and  its  God ;  so  did  she.  She  was 
born  a  flower ;  and  her  sweet  disposition,  delicate 
feelings,  fine  discernment  and  mental  liveliness 
were  a  part  of  her  constitutional  nature.  She  was 
good,  kind,  sympathetic,  and  active  because  the 
combined  machinery  of  her  body  and  soul  would 
not  work  in  any  other  direction.  Like  the  flowers, 
she  ever  looked  upward,  and  from  her  humble 
position  saw  more  of  heaven  than  did  thousands 
who  could  look  down  upon  her.  Nimble  were  her 
fingers,  and  the  work  which  came  swiftly  from  her 
hands  was  as  smooth  and  perfect  as  the  greatest 
skill  could  make  it ;  but  none  of  the  less  talented 
or  less  skilful  ever  envied  Annie.  When  her 
work  was  done,  and  often  it  was  early  in  the 
day,  they  would  not  permit  Annie  to  assist  them, 
as  she  many  times  wished  to  do,  for  they  knew 
that  she  had  a  nobler  work  to  perform  among  the 
suffering  and  destitute  without.  They  seldom 
questioned  her,  and  yet  they  knew,  when  she  took 
her  hat  and  shawl  before  the  others  had  completed 
their  tasks,  that  some  poor  family,  some  little  home- 
less or  parentless  ones,  were  waiting  for  her  com- 
ing. She  loved  children  as  well  as  flowers,  and 
although  she  was  near-sighted,  yet  it  was  seldom 
indeed  that  either  escaped  her  notice.  Her  regular 
employment  was  no  more  than  sufficient  to  pay 
her  board  and  clothe  her  in  a  tasty  manner  ;  but  by 


GOING  ABOUT  DOING  GOOD.  79 

overwork  and  by  little  jobs  which  she  secured  for 
evening  work,  she  earned  considerable  sums,  every 
farthing  of  which  was  employed  in  clothing  the 
ragged  little  urchins  whom  she  found  upon  the 
street,  and  in  furnishing  juvenile  reading  for  the 
poverty-stricken  little  ones  who  came  to  her 
mission  sabbath-school.  There  was  a  magnetic 
influence  about  her  person  that  convinced  the 
sinful  of  guilt,  awed  the  criminal,  and  cheered 
the  innocent.  She  never  flattered,  never  con- 
demned, but  often  praised,  and  in  her  frequented 
paths  the  vile  slunk  away  into  the  corners,  the 
poor  said  "  God  bless  her,"  and  the  children  cried 
to  go  with  her.  She  seemed  satisfied  with  her  lot ; 
feared  no  evil,  and  none  seemed  to  come.  She  was 
always  happy,  and  her  presence  made  everything 
cheerful  about  her.  In  short,  she  was  a  model  of 
female  purity,  innocence,  and  generosity. 

For  many  years  she  has  labored,  devoting  her 
spare  hours  and  her  Sundays  to  works  of  charity ; 
and  to-day  she  can  be  seen  with  her  bouquet  of 
flowers  and  flock  of  children,  making  her  visits  to 
the  sabbath  school,  the  attics,  and  the  cellars,  to 
comfort  the  suffering,  to  educate  the  ignorant,  and 
to  recall  the  fallen  to  the  ways  of  virtue  and  peace. 
Men  will  say  that  she  has  done  nobly,  and  speak 
of  her  with  the  same  words  of  praise  which  they 
bestow  upon  every  one  "who  does  the  best  his 
circumstance  allows." 


80  NATURE'S  AKISTOCKACY. 

It  may  be  that  she  does  not  appreciate  her  own 
power,  and  is  contented  to  do  her  work  in  the 
small  way  and  with  the  small  means  which  her 
circumstances  permit.  But  with  those  who  have 
watched  her  movements  there  is  a  conviction  that 
she  is  not  doing  one  half  the  work  which  she 
might  perform  were  she  freed  from  the  hours 
of  toil  which  she  is  now  obliged  to  devote  to 
work,  or  were  she  paid  sufficient  wages  to  sup- 
port herself  as  her  intelligence  demands.  It  is 
not  her  fault  that  the  ten  talents  which  God  has 
given  her  are  not  used  in  the  most  profitable 
manner ;  for  the  use  she  has  made  of  one  shows 
that  the  spirit  is  willing.  Whose  fault  is  it  ? 

VI. 

THE  measure  of  a  generous  act  is  the  sacrifice 
which  is  necessary  to  do  it.  And  often  the  gift 
of  a  million  of  dollars  toward  some  charitable 
enterprise  may  not  be  really  as  generous  an  act  as 
the  giving  of  three  cents  by  another  and  poorer 
person  to  the  passing  beggar.  Provided  that  a 
man  never  gave  for  the  name  of  being  generous, 
the  gift  of  a  million  would,  to  some  men,  be  a 
smaller  hardship  than  that  of  fifty  dollars  to 
others.  Hence,  when  I  say  that  the  shop-girls  are 
generous,  I  do  not  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that 
they  give  very  large  amounts,  but  that,  in  con- 


PRESENTS  FROM   SHOP-GIRLS.  81 

sideration  of  the  number  of  stitches  that  must  be 
taken  for  every  cent  that  is  earned,  and  their 
general  poverty,  the  shop-girls  are  the  most  gener- 
ous class  of  any  in  the  community.  They  are  al- 
ways giving,  and  the  thought  of  doing  good  or  of 
making  others  happy  seems  to  buoy  them  up  and 
make  their  heavy  tasks  seem  lighter.  I  remember 
an  awkward  boy  by  the  name  of  Nat,  who  was 
employed  in  the  shop  already  mentioned  to  sweep, 
carry  bundles,  and  be  a  general  waiter.  He  was 
so  accommodating  and  good-natured  that  the  girls 
respected  him,  and  so  poor  and  ragged  that  they 
pitied  him.  Their  interest  was  much  increased 
by  learning  that  on  his  poor  wages  of  three  dol- 
lars and  a  half  per  week  he  was  trying  to  sup- 
port an  invalid  mother.  A  few  days  before  the 
4th  of  July  Nat  had  been  heard  to  remark 
that  he  must  stay  at  home,  as  he  had  no  clothes 
fit  to  wear  on  that  anniversary.  Then  the  girls 
with  great  unanimity  contributed  from  their 
wages  sufficient  to  purchase  a  complete  outfit, 
which  they  intended  to  present  to  Nat  on  the 
evening  before  the  celebration.  In  obtaining  this 
contribution,  none  of  the  managers  would  take  any 
money  from  such  girls  as  were  not  in  comfortable 
circumstances,  or  whose  wages  were  insufficient  to 
provide  needed  comforts  for  themselves.  When 
the  suit  was  made,  —  the  hat,  cap,  shoes,  shirt, 
coat,  vest,  and  pants,  —  the  girls  were  too  con- 

4*  L 


82  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

siderate  of  Nat's  bashfulness  to  present  the  gift 
in  the  presence  of  all  the  employees,  and  too 
kindly  disposed  toward  the  girls  who  could  not 
contribute  anything  to  let  Nat  know  who  did  give, 
and  so,  after  handing  the  suit  to  the  foreman,  they 
nearly  all  left  the  shop  for  their  meals,  leaving  the 
foreman  to  present  the  clothing  privately.  This 
the  foreman  did,  after  making  the  remark  that,  as 
the  girls  were  pleased  with  him,  they  had  taken 
this  method  of  showing  their  friendship.  Nat  was 
taken  by  surprise.  He  looked  at  the  foreman, 
then  at  the  clothes,  and  then  around  to  see  if  any- 
body was  looking  at  him,  and  finally,  when  he  tried 
to  say  something,  he  utterly  broke  down,  and  cried 
like  a  child.  He  found  five  dollars  in  one  of  the 
pockets,  and,  taking  that  home  to  his  mother,  he 
donned  the  suit,  and  the  next  day  appeared  at  the 
halls  and  entertainments  with  the  other  boys. 
That  first  new  suit  caused  him  to  look  upon  him- 
self, for  the  first  time,  as  the  equal  of  other  boys, 
and  from  that  time  there  was  a  marked  change  in 
Nat's  behavior.  He  lost  none  of  his  good  nature 
or  kindness  of  heart,  but  he  acquired  a  sense  of 
self-consequence,  without  which  no  boy  will  ever 
succeed  in  life  ;  and  the  day  is  not  distant  when 
Nat  will  look  back  upon  that  proud  day  in  his 
first  new  suit  of  clothes,  and  regard  it  as  the 
starting-point  in  a  prosperous  life. 


THE  WORKING-WOMEN  AND   THE   SOLDIERS.      83 

VII. 

THOSE  girls  would  never  permit  a  kind  act  to  go 
unrewarded  if  they  could  by  any  means  prevent 
it,  and  beggars  and  objects  of  general  charity 
always  found  willing  and  generous  contributors 
among  them.  They  made  presents  to  the  fore- 
man, that  is,  until  they  found  that  those  who  gave 
most  were  always  discharged  first,  owing  to  his 
dislike  of  those  to  whom  he  felt  under  any  ob- 
ligation, —  they  surprised  one  another  with  gifts, 
and  gave  liberally  toward  fairs,  lectures,  and  en- 
tertainments instituted  for  charitable  purposes ; 
but  in  no  direction  did  their  sympathies  tend  so 
strongly  as  toward  the  unfortunate  and  maimed 
veterans  of  battle.  Without  exception  they  were 
patriotic ;  and  during  the  great  civil  war  which 
devastated  our  land  from  the  year  1861  to  1865, 
they  were  most  earnest  supporters  of  the  govern- 
ment. Far  into  the  night  of  many  a  weary  day 
these  tailoresses  worked  in  the  preparation  of 
those  little  comforts  which  the  Sanitary  and  Chris- 
tian Commissions  distributed,  and  which  saved 
many  a  soldier's  life.  When  the  Soldiers'  Homes 
were  established  in  Boston,  they  received  the  con- 
stant attention  of  these  working-women,  whose 
efforts  were  unceasing  in  behalf  of  the  inmates. 
One  day  the  girls  made  up  their  minds  to  give  a 
dinner  to  the  wounded  soldiers  at  the  "  Home,"  and 


84  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

selected  the  17th  of  June  as  an  appropriate  time, 
because  on  that  day  everybody  else  would  be  enjoy- 
ing themselves,  while  those  poor  cripples  could 
not  move  from  the  house.  For  this  purpose  a 
large  sum  was  raised,  many  giving  away  the 
wages  of  a  whole  week's  work.  It  was  all  con- 
tributed from  hard-earned  wages,  every  cent  of 
w]^ich  had  a  value  in  the  sight  of  those  who  earned 
it.  Many  of  the  wealthy  men  of  that  great  city 
might  have  given  ten  times  the  amount  contributed 
by  all  those  girls  without  missing  it  in  their  busi- 
ness, or  curtailing  any  personal  comforts  ;  but  these 
givers  were  obliged  to  make  a  sacrifice,  and  to  do 
without  some  needed  garment,  some  book,  some 
teaching,  and  perhaps  some  food,  in  order  to  give 
a  substantial  proof  of  their  patriotism. 

It  was  a  pleasant  occasion  indeed,  when  that 
"  surprise  party  "  of  ladies  took  possession  of  the 
Home.  They  arranged  the  tables,  loaded  them 
with  food,  set  out  the  dishes  of  strawberries  and 
of  ice-cream,  and  in  a  short  time  after  their  arrival 
invited  the  maimed  patriots  to  a  feast  that  would 
have  done  honor  to  a  banquet-hall  in  Fifth  Avenue. 
"With  cheerful  faces  and  willing  hands  the  girls 
served  at  that  table,  and  carried  dishes  to  such  as 
could  not  leave  their  cots,  leaving  nothing  undone 
to  cheer  the  desponding  hearts  of  the  ambitionless 
soldiers.  Fine  music  enlivened  the  feast ;  and 
with  speeches,  kind  farewells,  and  good  wishes  the 


GENIUS   IN  THE  TAILOR?S   SHOP.  85 

girls  went,  as  they  came,  quickly,  modestly,  grace- 
fully. 

The  next  day  there  appeared  in  the  Boston 
Daily  Transcript  a  card  from  the  soldiers,  in  which 
were  these  words :  "  It  is  indeed  pleasant  to  be 
remembered,  and  a  New  England  soldier  can  appre- 
ciate such  kindness,  though  it  comes  not  from  the 
lap  of  luxury.  It  shows  that  it  can  come  from 
our  working-women,  and  that  their  hearts  and 
hands  are  with  us.  It  makes  us  happy  to  know 
that  the  toiling  and  industrious  women  of  Boston 
are  with  us,  and  appreciate  the  sacrifices  which 
soldiers  have  made  for  our  beloved  country." 

As  it  is  my  present  purpose  only  to  show  that 
the  working- women  are  generous,  sympathetic,  and 
patriotic,  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  many  other 
incidents  which  have  occurred  that  might  illustrate 
further  the  noble  traits  of  their  character  in  those 

respects. 

* 
VIII. 

As  is  the  case  in  other  occupations,  there  are 
sometimes  found  in  the  tailors'  shops  persons  of 
such  marked  natural  ability  that  no  obstacle  can 
prevent  their  becoming  influential  and  wealthy. 
Thousands  have  more  than  the  average  ability 
who  succeed  no  better  than  those  to  whom  Nature 
has  given  less,  because,  in  the  present  economy 
of  the  world,  the  way  to  success  is  so  barred  by 


86  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

prejudice  and  custom  that  it  requires  a  giant  to 
break  through  ;  and  they  who  have  almost  enough 
strength  to  break  the  bars  fare  no  better  than  they 
who  are  impotent  and  weak.  There  was  one  per- 
son in  the  tailoring  establishment  already  men- 
tioned, who,  when  a  baste-girl,  a  needlewoman,  or 
machine-operator,  showed  such  talent  for  business 
and  for  overseeing  that  almost  by  common  con- 
sent she  took  upon  herself  the  care  and  annoy- 
ance of  assisting  and  advising  all  the  girls  in  her 
room.  Soon  she  was  made  a  forewoman,  and  paid 
well  for  doing  that  for  which  she  was"  so  well 
adapted.  She  was  a  generous  woman,  too  unlet- 
tered to  appear  at  advantage  in  society,  or  to  be 
a  good  companion  in  high  social  circles;  yet  she 
was  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  the  proprietors 
were  making  a  veiy  large  percentage  upon  all  the 
work  which  was  done  under  her  eye,  and  she  de- 
termined to  start  in  business  for  herself.  This 
she  did ;  at  first  in  a  small  way,  gradually  increas- 
ing the  number  of  her  machines  and  employees, 
until  she  found  herself  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
largest  manufacturing  establishments  in  Boston. 
She  took  care  to  employ  none  but  able  hands,  and 
those  she  paid  promptly  and  well.  No  sewing- 
girl  ever  complained  to  her  of  the  wages,  and 
none  that  were  faithful  were  discharged,  although 
hundreds  applied  every  week  for  the  places,  and 
offered  to  work  for  less  sums.  The  girls  loved  her 


A  SUCCESSFUL  TAILORESS.  87 

as  a  mother,  and  although  she  was  sometimes 
harsh  in  her  demeanor,  yet  they  never  quarrelled 
with  her.  It  was  like  a  family.  The  proprietress 
had  so  much  confidence  in  the  honesty  and  honor 
of  her  employees  that  she  permitted  their  ac- 
counts of  work  to  supersede  her  own  in  case  of  a 
difference  in  which  the  employee  claimed  more 
than  her  account  stated.  Men  may  think  that 
such  concession  indicated  a  lack  of  business  abil- 
ity, but  the  result  showed  its  wisdom ;  for  the 
woman  became  quite  wealthy,  and  had  the  safest 
and  most  profitable  business  of  the  kind  in  the 
city. 

So  great  was  her  prosperity  that  it  began  to  at- 
tract attention,  and  in  one  year  ten  different  men 
entered  into  the  business  in  competition  with  her. 
They  hired  their  girls  at  the  lowest  rates,  often 
cheated  them  out  of  their  lawful  wages,  and 
worked  them  over  hours  in  order  to  do  work 
cheaper  than  their  lady  predecessor  and  competitor. 
The  result  was  that  the  manufacture  of  clothing 
became  unprofitable  to  everybody  but  to  dealers 
and  to  the  contractors  for  custom  work.  Then  the 
lady  closed  her  shop,  and  entered  into  a  partnership 
with  a  large  firm,  who  dealt  in  furnishing  goods 
and  clothing  ;  and  she  is  to-day  a  principal  part- 
ner in  a  leading  mercantile  house  of  Boston,  —  an 
honored,  industrious,  generous,  and  popular  woman. 


88  NATUKE'S  AKISTOCRACY. 

IX. 

IT  has  been  so  often  said  that  the  "  women  are 
the  most  unkind  to  their  own  sex,"  and  that  no 
one  is  such  an  enemy  to  her  own  elevation  as 
woman  herself,  that  I  cannot  avoid  a  reference  to 
the  fact  that  the  tailoresses  of  Boston  are  exceed- 
ingly charitable  toward  those  of  their  own  sex 
who,  through  ill  usage,  misfortune,  or  deceit,  are 
led  astray.  It  does  often  happen,  for  reasons  men- 
tioned in  a  previous  chapter,  that  working-girls 
falL  But  there  are  no  curses  for  them  in  the 
circles  they  leave.  No !  when  such  a  sad  occur- 
rence happens  there  is  weeping  in  the  shops  as  if 
their  old  associate  were  dead,  and  they  mention 
her  in  whispers  and  tears,  as  if  it  was  a  calamity 
too  awful  to  find  a  full-toned  expression.  Many 
efforts  do  they  put  forth  to  save  and  reform  their 
wayward  sisters,  and  many  times  those  efforts 
are  successful  The  workshop  is  not  an  immoral 
place.  Its  social  influences,  as  far  as  the  em- 
ployees are  concerned,  tend  to  a  life  of  virtue  and 
morality,  and  it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  so  many 
make  the  shop  a  last  resort  for  help,  in  time  of 
suffering,  and,  failing  to  find  adequate  relief  in  the 
wages  which  they  get,  strive  no  more  against 
temptation,  that  the  fallen  are  so  often  found 
within  its  walls.  It  is  not  the  result  of  other 
association  than  the  demon  of  poverty. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

JOURNEYMEN   TAILORS. 

The  Troubles  of  a  Tailor.  —  How  Custom  Coats  are  made.  —  Too 
much  "Work,  or  too  much  Leisure.  —  Their  Pay.  —  Intellectual 
Ability. — Oppressive  Foremen.  —  Piece-Makers.  —  How  they 
grind  the  Face  of  the  Poor. 

I. 

rriHEEE  is  no  class  of  workingmen  so  subject 
-L  to  annoyance  as  that  of  the  journeymen  tail- 
ors. They  are  either  overrun  with  work,  or  have 
none  at  all.  To-day  they  earn  ten  dollars  and  to- 
morrow will  earn  nothing.  During  this  week,  per- 
haps, they  must  work  all  day  and  nearly  all  night 
to  fulfil  the  contracts  made  by  their  employer,  and 
next  week  they  will  be  seen  loafing  about  the 
shop  or  street  corners  without  employment.  At 
some  seasons  of  the  year  they  have  plenty  of  work, 
and  can  purchase  every  needed  comfort ;  at  another, 
they  earn  nothing  for  many  weeks.  Their  tasks 
are  usually  those  which  require  the  closest  appli- 
cation of  mind  and  body,  and  which  will  soon  ex- 
haust the  strongest  physical  or  mental  constitution. 


90  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

The  strain  upon  their  eyesight  often  makes  them 
blind  before  they  are  forty  years  of  age ;  the  con- 
stant use  of  their  right  hand  induces  paralysis  of 
the  right  side ;  their  cramped  position  on  the  bench 
makes  them  rheumatic  and  gouty;  while  their 
irregular  hours  and  nervous  exhaustion  create  an 
unquenchable  desire  for  stimulating  drink.  Ee- 
ceiving  great  pay  for  an  uncertain  period  and  then 
for  many  weeks  little  or  no  income,  they  find 
themselves  subject  to  a  cross-fire  of  temptation, 
coming  from  too  great  prosperity  on  one  side  and 
from  compulsory  idleness  upon  the  other,  either 
of  which  is  likely  to  destroy  the  most  cautious. 
If  they  are  not  as  a  class  more  intemperate,  more 
immoral,  more  subject  to  poverty  than  other  men, 
it  is  not  because  they  have  not  had  hardships  and 
temptations  sufficient  to  make  them  so. 

During  the  "strikes"  which  have  occurred 
among  the  journeymen  tailors  within  a  few  years 
in  Philadelphia,  New  York,  St.  Louis,  and  Boston, 
there  has  been  a  great  outcry  from  the  general  pub- 
lic, and  the  tailors  have  been  accused  of  many  mean 
acts;  and  have  been  partially  defeated  in  some  of 
their  attempts  to  get  better  wages  by  the  united 
public,  who  feared  a  rise  in  the  price  of  clothing. 
This  would  never  have  been  the  case  had  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  workmen  been  known  to  those  who 
opposed  the  "  strike." 

It  often  happens  that  a  wealthy  customer  enters 


THE  JOURNEYMAN'S  TASK.  91 

a  clothing  house,  and  gives  an  order  for  a  coat,  to 
be  completed  before  a  certain  day  on  which  he 
intends  to  wear  it.  It  is  possible  that  there  is  but 
one  day  and  one  night  intervening,  and  although 
the  proprietors  are  aware  how  arduous  the  task 
must  be,  the  contract  is  made  to  deliver  at  the  time 
requested,  rather  than  lose  the  trade  of  the  rich 
customer.  The  measure  is  taken,  the  cloth  cut 
with  all  despatch,  and  the  bundle  hurried  up  to  the 
coat  room,  where  sit  the  journeymen  tailors,  per- 
haps crowded  with  other  jobs  for  which  there  is 
the  same  haste,  or  perhaps  waiting  for  a  coat  to 
come.  "Here,"  says  the  person  bringing  the  bun- 
dle, "is  a  fine  broadcloth  coat  to  be  made  and 
pressed  before  day  after  to-morrow  morning  with- 
out fail.  Mr. ,  the  rich  banker,  wants  it  to 

wear  on  an  excursion,  and  it  must  be  one  of  your 
best  jobs." 

The  "  jour."  examines  it,  and  finds  that  it  is  one 
of  the  very  best  piece  3  of  broadcloth  in  the  market, 
and  that  the  cut  is  in  a  style  that  will  require  the 
greatest  care  and  skill  to  give  it  a  tasty  appear- 
ance. He  knows  that  at  least  three  days'  time 
ought  to  be  devoted  to  it,  and  conceives  of  no  way 
in  which  it  can  be  completed  unless  he  works 
through  the  entire  night.  Then  begins  a  day  and 
a  night  of  toil,  such  as  no  one  but  he  that  has  un- 
dertaken it  can  appreciate.  Swift  fly  his  fingers, 
flashing  to  the  end  of  the  thread  and  back  again 


92  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

thousands  and  thousands  of  times ;  and  at  the  end 
of  each  needleful  of  thread  he  seizes  another  needle 
ready  threaded  by  an  assistant,  and  proceeds  as  be- 
fore. Hours  wear  on,  piece  after  piece  is  fitted, 
stretched,  ironed,  sewed,  until,  far  into  the  night,  it 
begins  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a  coat.  Then 
he  leaps  to  and  fro  between  the  bench  and  the 
press-board,  plying  the  needle  or  tugging  at  the 
heavy  iron  goose,  while  his  eyes  run  water,  his 
back  and  arm  ache,  his  head  is  dizzy,  and  his 
stomach  empty.  The  morning  comes,  and  he  has 
had  no  rest,  and  the  coat  is  not  done.  He  wets  his 
head  hurriedly  in  cold  water,  and  as  he  must  have 
stimulus  and  has  no  time  to  take  food,  he  swallows 
a  glass  of  brandy.  Then  comes  the  pressing, 
stretching,  shrinking,  which  is  necessary  to  make 
the  coat  "  a  perfect  fit."  The  collar  must  have  just 
such  a  neat  roll,  the  cloth  must  wear  a  finished 
gloss,  the  sleeves  must  be  round,  and  the  lining 
smooth;  and  the  workman  stands  pressing  over 
the  hot  iron  until  the  perspiration  pours  from  his 
face,  his  head  whirls,  and  sickening  sensations  run 
through  his  whole  frame.  Perhaps  the  hour  comes 
when  the  coat  is  to  be  delivered,  and  the  custo- 
mer with  his  gold-headed  cane  walks  into  the  store 
to  try  on  his  coat.  Then  the  proprietor  scolds  the 
foreman,  and  the  foreman  curses  the  journeyman, 
.and  threatens  to  discharge  him  at  once.  Soon 
the  coat  is  all  complete.  But  if  another  custo- 


HARD   LOT  OF  A  TAILOR.  93 

mer  has  meantime  arrived  under  the  same  circum- 
stances as  the  former,  another  bundle  is  given  him, 
with  the  request  that  he  "  pay  more  attention  to 
his  work";  and  another  body-and-mind-straining 
job  is  begun.  So  on  perhaps  for  weeks,  until  he 
is  wholly  exhausted,  and  loses  his  place  because 
he  cannot  perform  human  impossibilities.  Or  it 
may  be  that  the  trade  is  so  dull,  or  the  busy  season 
is  so  near  over,  when  his  strength  fails  that  he  will 
have  a  chance  to  rest  without  losing  his  situation, 
and  perchance  "when  the  rush  is  over,"  he  will 
be  out  of  work  for  two  or  three  months.  He  has, 
however,  acquired  a  thirst  for  brandy,  and  this, 
together  with  the  expectation  of  more  work,  soon 
makes  him  reckless,  improvident,  and  perhaps  dis- 
solute. He  spends  his  earnings  thoughtlessly,  and 
perhaps  before  another  "  busy  season  "  he  and  his 
family  are  suffering  for  food.  Even  should  he 
save  his  money  and  apply  it  economically,  he 
would  find  a  hard  lot  in  life.  For  notwithstand- 
ing his  great  pay  while  he  works,  his  aggregate 
yearly  wages  do  not  equal  the  wages  of  many  la- 
boring men  who  now  appear  to  begrudge  him  his 
pay.  When  the  Trades  Union  of  the  United 
States  established  a  scale  of  prices  for  journeymen 
tailors,  it  was  the  intention  of  that  body  simply  to 
equalize  or  average  the  wages  so  that  this  class  of 
workmen  should  receive  as  much  in  proportion  as 
do  other  classes ;  and  when  a  "  strike  "  was  made 


94  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

to  compel  the  dealers  to  accede  to  their  wishes, 
this  was  all  they  asked.  The  justice  of  their  de- 
mands was  recognized  at  once  by  every  person  who 
examined  into  the  matter,  and  living  wages  was 
given  them.  I  say  living  wages ;  not  meaning 
that  they  receive  a  fair  compensation  for  the 
strength,  health,  and  life  which  they  give  to  the 
employer. 

This  is  the  general  rule,  as  I  personally  know ; 
but  of  course  there  are  exceptions.  Some  few 
have  constant  work,  are  not  driven,  and  make  ex- 
cellent wages;  but  so  very  few  are  they  that  no 
mention  need  be  made  of  them  here. 

Intellectually  the  journeymen  tailors  are  witty 
and  thoughtful.  They  are  ever  discussing  among 
themselves  questions  of  local  and  national  poli- 
tics, points  of  law,  philosophy,  physics,  and  re- 
ligion ;  and  display  in  these  controversies  talents 
worthy  of  much  better  educated  members  of 
society.  Many  have  a  generous,  frank,  and  cheer- 
ful disposition,  and  seem  wonderfully  like  each 
other  in  natural  character.  Often  have  these 
men  left  the  bench  for  a  partnership,  and  some- 
times for  offices  under  the  government;  and  in 
both  situations  they  have  shown  great  ability. 
Where  a  journeyman  tailor  has  succeeded  in  pro- 
moting himself,  the  public  may  expect  executive 
ability  and  industry;  for  the  greater  portion  of 
them  live  and  die  in  the  same  position,  having 


NATURALLY  WICKED.  95 

perhaps  no  natural  tastes  for  a  higher  life,  or  having 
been  defeated,  when  attempting  to  climb,  in  that 
conflict  between  the  unflinching  rules  of  society 
and  their  sensitive  consciences. 


II. 

IT  sometimes  happens  that  journeymen  tailors, 
or  men  who,  as  cutters  or  assistants,  have  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  the  trade,  are  promoted  by  cap- 
italists because  they  exhibit  an  unnatural  taste 
for  tyranny  -and  abuse.  This  is  one  of  the  in- 
stances in  which  artful  man  defeats  the  aims  of 
nature.  And  while  the  great  body  of  tailors,  and 
especially  the  high-minded,  impartial,  and  un- 
selfish, are  killing  themselves  at  the  bench  in 
some  musty  back-shop,  the  exceptions,  such  as  the 
selfish,  dishonest,  and  mean,  are  advanced  into  the 
position  of  overseers  and  foremen,  in  order  that 
they  may  "  look  out  for  their  employers'  interest." 
The  capitalist  invests  his  money  in  the  clothing 
business,  and  intends  to  make  all  the  profits  he 
can.  Perhaps  he  purposes  to  do  a  strictly  honest 
and  honorable  business.  In  any  case  he  wishes 
to  be  sure  that  his  interests  will  receive  the  first 
attention,  and  he  hires  such  a  foreman  or  piece- 
maker  as  will  not  be  moved  by  appeals  or  shop- 
made  friendships.  Such  I  have  seen ;  and  the 
use  which  they  made  of  their  power  has  so  con- 


96  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

nected  the  words  "  characters,"  "  foreman,"  and 
"piece-maker"  with  injustice  and  cruelty,  that  I 
shudder  when  I  speak  them. 

The  foremen  generally  receive  large  salaries,  and 
feel  that  they  must  in  some  way  save  to  their 
employers  sufficient  to  make  themselves  profit- 
able ;  while  many  attempt  to  raise  their  own  salary 
by  cutting  down  the  wages  and  oppressing  those 
under  their  charge.  Such  men  usually  consider 
tailoresses  as  so  many  things,  to  use  when  profit- 
able and  to  throw  away  when  not  needed  ;  there 
being  such  a  large  surplus  of  female  population  in 
those  New  England  States  where  clothing  is  manu- 
factured, that  it  is  easy  to  fill  the  places  of  such 
as  may  be  discharged.  These  girls  are  not  hired 
by  the  week  or  month,  but  always  ~by  the  piece,  so 
that  the  tailoress  is  supposed  to  receive  such  wages 
as  she  earns.  But  this  is  very  far  from  the  case. 
One  generally  works  as  hard  as  another  and  as 
many  hours,  but,  allowing  for  a  few  skilled  excep- 
tions, they  are  paid  in  proportion  to  the  value  of 
the  work  upon  which  the  foreman  puts  them.  Two 
girls  working  side  by  side,  and  with  equal  skill, 
will  seldom  receive  equal  wages.  One  may  earn 
ten  dollars  a  week,  and  the  other  only  four  dollars. 
One  has  been  given  "  good  work,"  and  the  other 
"  poor  work,"  -  —  the  former  being  work  for  which 
passable  wages  are  paid,  and  the  other  such  as 
must  be  done,  but  is  neither  profitable  to  dealer 


OVERBEARING  OVEESEEES.          97 

nor  maker.  Under  such  circumstances  there  is  a 
great  power  in  the  foreman's  hands;  and  if  he 
chooses  to  make  unreasonable  rules  of  behavior, 
show  favoritism,  refuse  to  "  accept "  work  when  he 
is  ill-natured,  or  to  cut  down  the  pay  of  such  as  dis- 
please him,  he  can  do  so  without  restraint.  And 
I  regret  to  say  that  this  is  very  often  the  case.  The 
girls  cannot  lose  the  place  without  great  risk  of 
suffering,  and,  knowing  that  many  stand  ready  to 
take  their  positions,  they  weep  and  obey. 

Although  a  situation  under  such  a  foreman  is  suffi- 
ciently irritating,  yet  there  are  conditions  which  are 
far  worse.  Here  there  is  a  hope  of  appeal  to  the  pro- 
prietors for  the  girls,  and  a  fear  of  censure  for  the 
foreman,  provided  he  commits  any  very  flagrant 
acts  of  injustice  ;  but  in  the  piece-maker's  shop 
there  is  no  such  hope  and  no  such  restraint.  A 
piece-maker  is  a  person  who  takes  clothing  after  it 
has  been  cut,  and  contracts  to  make  it  for  a  certain 
sum  per  piece. 

When  a  journeyman  tailor  is  induced,  by  the 
offers  of  several  dealers,  to  start  in  business  for 
himself,  he  hires  a  room  in  some  upper  story,  and, 
perhaps  running  ia  debt  for  every  article  of  furni- 
ture, hires  a  number  of  girls  to  assist  him.  He 
then  contracts  with  the  dealers  to  make  all  of 
their  vests,  coats,  or  pants,  and  without  a  cent  of 
capital  begins  to  compete,  with  other  shops  of  a 
like  character.  It  is  for  the  piece-maker's  interest 

5  0 


98  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

to  pay  very  small  wages,  and  lie  is  usually  selfish 
enough  to  take  advantage  of  the  necessities  which 
crowd  the  working-women  of  his  locality.  In 
many  cases  he  seems  to  be  without  heart  or  con- 
science. He  keeps  cutting  down  the  wages  week 
after  week,  as  the  girls  are  obliged  to  stay,  until 
his  employees  exist  from  day  to  day  on  the  very 
verge  of  starvation.  He  receives  for  making  a 
nice  coat  the  sum  of  ten  dollars,  but  to  a  girl 
who  has  spent  two  or  three  years  in  acquiring  her 
skill,  and  who  does  all  the  work,  he  gives  only 
three  or  four  dollars.  If  a  girl  offends  him  he  re- 
fuses to  pay  her,  or  annoys  her  by  making  her  do 
over  again  jobs  that  are  well  done ;  and  in  one 
case  which  came  to  my  notice,  some  girls,  coming 
from  a  distance,  who  reached  the  shop  an  hour  late, 
were  refused  admittance  until  the  next  day.  If 
he  finds  that  by  grinding  still  harder  upon  his  vic- 
tims, and  increasing  the  amount  of  work,  he  can 
underbid  those  dealers  who  hire  their  own  girls 
and  do  their  own  work,  he  undertakes  it  at  once. 
If  he  succeeds,  the  wages  of  the  girls  in  the  shops 
of  the  dealers  are  reduced  to  compete  with  him ; 
while  if  he  does  not  succeed,  he  discharges  his  girls 
and  "  fails  up  to  make  money,"  frequently  deeply 
indebted  to  his  employees.  -Thus  year  after  year 
the  poor  women  are  drawn  into  the  piece-shops, 
oppressed  and  starved  into  vice  and  shame,  and 
finally  left  to  occupy  a  grave  in  the  potter's  field ; 


THE  PIECE-SHOP.  99 

while  the  hard-hearted  tailors  succeed  one  an- 
other in  the  diabolical  task  of  oppressing  and 
cheating  the  unprotected,  and  of  "  failing  in  busi- 
ness "  in  order  to  pay  their  gambling,  whiskey, 
and  debauchery  bills. 

Stand  by  the  door-way  of  a  piece-shop  at  the 
hour  of  closing,  all  ye  doubting  ones,  and  observe 
the  thin  frames,  the  swollen  eyes,  the  tattered 
dresses,  the  unsteady  steps,  and  the  hands  that 
press  the  foreheads,  if  you  would  be  satisfied  of 
the  truth  of  my  words.  I  dare  not  tell  one  half 
the  truth,  for  few  indeed  who  have  not  taken  the 
pains  to  examine  would  believe  me. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SERVANT-GIRLS. 

"Why  American  Girls  prefer  the  Shops  and  Factories.  —  Their 
Taste  and  Eefinemeni;.  —  Incidents  in  Kitchen  Life.  —  The 
Old  Cook.  —  The  Nurse.  —  The  Waiter.  —  Anecdotes,  &c. 

I. 

~T~T"T~HEN  the  cry  of  the  working-women  of 
V  V  New  England  finds  lodgement  in  the  ears 
of  the  wealthy  housewives,  the  first  question 
which  they  put  is  always  this,  "  Why  do  they 
not  go  out  as  home-servants  ?  "  and  the  question  is 
asked  in  that  decided  manner  which  indicates  that 
the  speaker  declines  to  do  anything  for  them  as 
long  as  that  field  is  open.  There  is  a  great  de- 
mand for  housekeepers  and  servant-girls  even  in 
New  England,  and  the  greatest  annoyance  which  a 
wealthy  mistress  now  has  is  in  the  finding  of  suit- 
able servants  and  retaining  their  services  when 
once  engaged.  Hence  it  is  very  natural  that  the 
subject  of  these  perplexities  should  excuse  her 
lack  of  interest  in  the  poor  working-women  by 
saying  that  "  there  is  work  enough  for  them  in  the 


HOUSEKEEPING.  101 

kitchen."  "  Every  class  complains,"  said  an  English 
writer,  "  but  the  housekeepers.  The  factory  oper- 
atives, the  needle  and  machine  women,  the  female 
printers  and  clerks,  the  school-teachers  and  ac- 
countants, are  all  discontented,  and  this  land  of 
women  (Massachusetts)  has  found  that  there  is  no 
joy  for  woman  in  any.  occupation  but  house- 
keeping." Now  that  writer  was  right  as  far  as  his 
statements  with  regard  to  the  discontent  are  con- 
cerned, but  his  conclusion  that  there  is  "no  joy 
for  woman  in  any  occupation  but  housekeeping  " 
is  very  far  from  the  truth.  I  do  not  doubt  that,  as 
a  class,  the  married  women  are  the  happiest ;  and 
the  possession  of  a  nice  home,  bright  children,  kind 
friends,  and  plenty  of  money  ought  to  make  them 
so.  But  there  are  found  many  women  in  other 
stations  in  life  who  are  as  happy  as  human  beings 
can  well  be,  and  who  would  not  leave  the  school, 
the  hospital,  the  life  of  business,  for  the  pleasant- 
est  mansion  in  America. .  Woman  is  discontented 
as  a  laborer  for  wages  because  she  does  not  re- 
ceive a  just  compensation  for  her  work,  and  be- 
cause she  is  unreasonably  restricted  in  her  choice 
of  occupations.  She.  is  discontented  in  any  posi- 
tion where  she  comes  in  contact  with  wrong  which 
she  cannot  remedy,  suffering  which  she  cannot  re- 
lieve, and  degraded  humanity  which  she  cannot 
elevate.  She  would  be  equally  discontented  as  a 
"  housekeeper,"  did  not  those  who  assume  that 


102  NATURE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

title  have  a  right  to  their  own  time  and  all  the 
opportunities  for  relieving  their  own  distress  and 
doing  good  to  others  that  they  desire. 

A  kitchen-maid,  or  a  chambermaid,  is  not  a 
"  housekeeper  "  in  the  sense  which  the  writer  above 
quoted  intended  to  convey.  "  Housekeepers,"  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  word,  are  the  mistresses  of 
houses  or  mansions  ;  and  without  doubt  they,  as  a 
class,  are  happy.  Although  they  cannot  protect 
themselves,  yet  they  are  supposed  to  have  a  pro- 
tector in  the  form  of  a  husband,  father,  or  male 
friend  ;  and  in  many  cases,  no  doubt,  are  happier 
in  their  blissful  ignorance  than  they  would  be  if 
cumbered  with  the  responsibility  of  protecting 
their  own  moral,  social,  and  political  rights.  The 
servant-girls  are  not  only  without  protectors,  but 
without  the  commonest  means  of  shielding  them- 
selves ;  and  in  this  fact  may  be  found  the  reason 
why  so  many  fly  to  the  shops  for  sustenance  rather 
than  to  the  kitchen. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  looked  upon  by  all 
classes  in  American  society  as  a  disgrace  to  be  a 
servant  in  a  family,  or  even  to  have  a  relative  who 
is  one.  I  will  not  dwell  now  upon  the  reasons 
why  this  is  so,  as  it  is  a  fact  so  patent  that  it  needs 
no  arguments  to  establish  its  truth. 

American  girls  are  naturally  sensitive.  The 
hereditary  refinement  of  their  natures,  combined 
with  the  educational  and  social  advantages  which 


KITCHEN-MAIDS.  103 

are  fortunately  or  unfortunately  offered  to  young 
girls,  gives  them  finer  feelings  and  more  delicate 
organizations  than  characterized  their  great-grand- 
mothers or  marks  the  immigrating  women  of  our 
own  time.  Hence  the  respectability  of  an  occupa- 
tion would  affect  their  choice  much  more  than  it 
would  the  choice  of  the  coarse  and  vulgar.  They 
will  make  greater  sacrifices  to  retain  their  good 
name  than  would  the  uneducated,  unrefined  masses 
of  Europe.  To  make  a  sacrifice  for  one's  name  is 
an  indication  of  natural  nobility  which  is  honored 
everywhere,  unless,  perchance,  the  laboring  Ameri- 
can girls  be  an  exception. 

A  second  and  greater  reason  for  the  antipathy 
of  the  American  girls  to  the  "  kitchens "  is  the 
loss  of  their  native  independence.  In  "  free  Amer- 
ica "  there  is  no  shade  of  character  more  cultivated 
and  applauded  than  independence.  The  child  is 
taught  it  at  its  mother's  knee,  —  or  at  the  knee  of 
its  mother's  nurse-girl,  —  and  has  that  idea  instilled 
into  its  mind  in  almost  every  circumstance  in  life 
thereafter.  Be  independent !  is  heard  from  the  lips 
of  every  philosopher  and  statesman,  and  the  Amer- 
ican girls  have  unavoidably  inherited  some  of  that 
noble  spirit.  They  cannot  at  present  be  wholly 
independent,  but  they  adopt  the  next  best  course, 
and  be  as  independent  as  they  can.  The  store, 
the  tailor's  shop,  the  factory,  the  printing-office,  and 
binderies  are,  as  I  have  already  shown,  very  far  in- 


104  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

deed  from  being  independent  situations  ;  yet  those 
places  permit  a  far  greater  latitude  in  mental  and 
physical  action  than  do  the  kitchens  or  chambers 
of  a  modern  mansion.  In  the  former  the  girl  is 
supposed  to  be  paid  for  what  she  performs,  and  it 
depends  upon  her  ability  or  disposition  whether 
she  earn  more  or  less ;  in  the  latter  she  works 
always  for  a  stipulated  sum  per  week,  and  is  well 
aware  that  the  employer  intends  to  get  all  the 
labors  he  can  for  that  sum.  Again,  in  the  shop, 
no  one  is  placed  over  her  as  an  overseer  or  master 
who  is  not  fully  qualified  to  tell  her  how  to  do  her 
work,  in  case  she  is  unacquainted  with  it ;  while 
in  the  kitchen  it  would  be  a  rare  thing  for  her  to 
find  a  place  where  the  mistress  of  the  house  — 
who  controls  everything  about  it  —  was  able  to 
tell  her  how  to  cook,  or  wash,  or  mend.  There  is 
not  as  much  slavery  in  being  obliged  to  follow  the 
directions  of  one  you  know  to  be  better  qualified  to 
judge  for  you  than  you  are  for  yourself  as  there  is 
in  being  driven  about  by  one  who  knows  not  what 
would  be  either  for  her  good  or  for  yours  ;  so  that, 
as  far  as  respectability  and  independence  of  char- 
acter are  concerned,  the  New  England  girls  are  in 
better  circumstances  as  shop-girls  than  they  would 
be  as  kitchen  or  chamber  maids,  were  they  physi- 
cally capable  of  doing  the  work.  There  is,  however, 
a  very  good  argument  in  favor  of  the  positions  as 
house-servants,  viz.  they  are  sure  of  sufficient  food 


CONDITION   OF  HOUSE-SERVANTS.  105 

to  sustain  life  while  they  remain  in  their  situation ; 
which  cannot  always  be  said  of  the  shop-girls. 
But  this,  with  the  uncertainty  regarding  its  dura- 
tion, would  not  affect  the  decision  of  those  descend- 
ants of  that  race  whose  first  motto  was  "Give 
me  liberty,  or  give  me  death."  If  you  call  this 
foolish  pride,  then  you  condemn  the  spirit  of  the 
nation  which  preferred  hardship,  dangers,  blood- 
shed, and  slaughter  to  a  life  of  servility. 

But  this  is  by  no  means  all ;  there  are  hardships 
and  even  sufferings  among  the  house-servants 
which  are  as  great  a  disgrace  to  the  employers  as 
they  are  a  grief  to  the  victims.  Cooks  sometimes 
are  without  proper  food,  chamber-maids  are  often 
over- worked,  ladies'  maids  are  many  times  cruelly 
tortured,  and  nurse-girls  are  often  most  grievously 
oppressed.  I  say  often;  not  always,  for  fortu- 
nately there  are  some  hearts  that  are  soft,  some 
employers  that  are  considerate,  and  some  positions 
that  are  what  they  all  should  be,  viz.  homes.  A 
few  incidents  occurring  within  the  limited  circle 
of  my  acquaintance,  all  the  parties  to  which  are 
personally  known  to  me,  may  not  be  inappropriate 
as  illustrating  the  general  treatment  of  servant- 
girls  to-day  in  New  England,  and  showing  why 
the  worn  and  destitute  shop-girls  do  not  turn  their 
attention  to  housework. 

5* 


106  NATURE'S  ABISTOCKACY. 

II. 

IN  the  spring  of  the  year  1869  a  sewing-girl  of 
my  acquaintance,  who  had  been  abused  by  the 
overseer  and  could  not  earn  sufficient  money  to 
clothe  herself  properly,  determined  to  leave  the 
shop  and  seek  employment  as  a  servant-girl.  She 
was  intelligent,  easy  to  learn,  and  very  nimble. 
She  was  acquainted  with  the  details  of  housework, 
and  her  friends  predicted  that  she  would  succeed 
much  better  in  that  branch  of  industry  than  she 
had  done  in  the  piece-shop. 

Her  first  trial  was  in  the  family  of  an  officer  on 
Governor  Andrew's  staff,  who  was  reputed  to  be 
one  of  the  most  fearless  advocates  of  abolitionism 
to  be  found  in  Massachusetts.  She  was  engaged 
as  a  nurse  for  two  little  children ;  and  she  sup- 
posed, when  she  accepted  the  terms,  that  her  only 
labor  would  be  in  waiting  upon  those  children. 
She  was  undeceived,  however,  at  once  upon  enter- 
ing the  mansion,  for  she  was  told  by  the  haughty 
mistress  of  the  house  that  she  was  not  only  to 
take  care  of  the  children,  see  that  they  were  al- 
ways cleanly  attired,  studious  and  polite,  but  was 
expected  to  go  to  bed  after  all  the  others  at  night, 
build  the  fires  in  the  morning,  sweep  the  whole 
house,  assist  about  the  breakfast,  and  do  the  wash- 
ing and  ironing  for  the  children.  The  coal  for  the 
fires  in  the  nursery  and  sitting-room  must  be 


THE  TEIALS  OF  A  SERVANT-GIRL.  107 

brought  up  three  flights  of  stairs,  and  she  was  ex- 
pected to  do  that,  although  she  was  very  slender. 
She  attempted  to  perform  the  task  set  for  her,  and 
arose  early,  worked  all  day  without  an  hour's  rest, 
and  oftentimes  was  obliged  to  leave  some  un- 
finished work  at  midnight,  in  order  to  get  a  little 
rest  and  sleep.  If  there  was  dust  in  the  halls  or 
on  the  stairways ;  if  the  children  cried,  or  in  her 
absence  fell  and  hurt  themselves ;  if  the  fires  burned 
low,  or  a  certain  favorite  dress  was  not  ready  for 
the  children  when  required,  the  mistress  would 
call  her  down  to  the  dining-room,  and,  after  cau- 
tioning her  to  "  stand  erect  with  her  hands  beside 
her  when  in  the  presence  of  the  mistress  of  the, 
house,"  would  pour  upon  her  such  a  volume  of 
abuse  and  apply  such  vile  epithets,  that  the  poor 
girl  would  go  back  to  her  work  crying  and  most 
piteously  lamenting  her  sad  fate. 

She  did  not  remain  many  days,  and  ran  away 
because  she  dare  not  meet  the  mistress  and  tell  of 
her  intention. 

She  then  attempted  to  obtain  work  again  in  the 
shop,  but  before  she  succeeded  she  learned  that 
the  wife  of  the  leading  labor-reformer  of  Boston 
was  in  need  of  help,  and,  thinking  that  in  the 
family  of  such  a  great  philanthropist  she  could 
not  fail  in  being  well  treated,  she  applied  for 

the  situation.     Mrs. wanted  a  waiter-girl  to 

"  show  callers  into  the  parlor,"  assist  her  about  her 


108  NATUBE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

"  small  work  "  and  do  "  such  little  errands  about  the 
house  "  as  the  mistress  could  not  well  do  for  her- 
self. This  appeared  to  be  a  good  place,  as  she  was 
to  be  in  the  house  of  one  who  was  supposed,  above 
all  others,  to  appreciate  and  reward  the  laborer. 
The  first  day  she  was  given  the  job  of  cleaning  the 
ceilings  and  scouring  the  kitchen  floor.  The  sec- 
ond day  she  was  instructed  to  take  up  the  carpets 
in  the  parlor  and  dining-room  and  renovate  those 
apartments.  The  third  day  the  chambers  'were  to 
be  cleaned,  and  all  the  furniture  carried  out  and, 
after  washing,  returned.  All  this  the  girl  did 
cheerfully,  thinking  that  after  the  whole  house 
was  cleansed,  her  work  would  be  lighter.  But  on- 
the  fourth  day,  after  the  rooms  had  been  thor- 
oughly renovated,  and  the  lame  and  exhausted  girl 
thought  she  saw  the  end  of  such  hard  work,  the 
mistress  called  her  to  the  sitting-room,  paid  her 
for  one  half  a  week's  work,  and,  saying  that  she 
had  no  fault  of  any  kind  to  find  with  the  girl,  dis- 
charged her  because  the  mistress  "  did  not  need 
her  services  any  longer."  The  girl  asked  permis- 
sion to  leave  her  trunk  until  she  could  find  another 
place,  but  this  was  granted  only  for  one  day,  as  "  it 
lumbered  up  the  house  so."  The  girl  put  on  her 
bonnet  and  shawl,  and  with  a  heavy  heart  and 
moistened  eyes  was  about  leaving  the  house  when 
the  mistress  called  out  to  her,  — 

"  Mary  !  Mary  !   Won't  you  come  in  and  lid  me 
good  ly,  now  that  you  arc  going  to  leave  me  ?  " 


SERVANTS  AND   PHILANTHROPISTS.  109 

When  the  girl  returned  and  Mrs. saw  that 

the  servant  was  crying,  she  inquired  the  cause. 

"  I  am  an  orphan,"  said  the  girl.  "  I  have  no 
home  and  no  friends." 

"  Then  go  to  the  Young  Woman's  Home,"  said 
the  mistress. 

"But,"  replied  the  girl,  "I  have  not  sufficient 
money  to  pay  for  my  board  even  there,  for  I  have 
been  very  unfortunate." 

"  Well,"  said  the  hard-hearted  consort  of  a  great 
man,  "  I  don't  want  you  any  longer,  for  all  the 
work  is  done  that  I  wanted  you  for,  and  you  may 
as  well  go  along  without  more  crying." 

III. 

THE  persevering  servant-girl  was  not  wholly 
discouraged  upon  the  second  failure,  and  after 
watching  the  "  wants  "  in  the  daily  papers,  and 
inquiring  of  all  her  acquaintances,  she  found  a  sit- 
uation as  kitchen-maid  in  the  mansion  of  a  very 
prominent  philanthropist  of  Boston,  who  had  given, 
besides  many  private  donations,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  Methodist  Church.  The  gen- 
erosity and  benevolence  of  the  man  were  famed 
everywhere ;  and  this  friendless  girl,  who  had  not 
entirely  lost  her  faith  in  human  nature,  hoped  to 
find  kind  faces  and  Considerate  treatment  in  the 
home  of  such  a  man  as  he.  It  so  happened  that, 


110  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

in  anticipation  of  her  coming,  the  washerwoman 
who  usually  visited  the  house  on  Mondays  was 
discharged,  and  consequently  a  large  amount  of  fine 
clothing  awaited  the  girl's  arrival  The  mistress, 
who  had  discharged  the  washerwoman  in  order  to 
save  seventy-five  cents,  and  who  had  hired  the  girl 
with  the  understanding  that  the  washing  should 
be  done  by  other  parties,  directed  her  to  wash 
the  clothes  and  iron  them  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  The  astonished  girl  undertook  the  hard 
task,  and  had  so  far  completed  it  as  to  be  ironing 
the  fine  shirts,  when  the  mistress  rushed  in  and 
demanded  why  she  had  not  "  completed  that  iron- 
ing two  hours  ago."  The  girl  was  nearly  ex- 
hausted with  the  lifting  and  pressing  which  is 
necessary  to  finish  starched  linen,  and  to  that  un- 
kind attack  she  could  only  reply  in  tears.  The 
mistress  was  not  touched  by  the  girl's  distress ; 
but,  having  in  view  the  almighty  fifty  cents,  told 
her  that  she  (the  mistress)  could  not  afford  to  hire 
a  girl  who  was  so  slow ;  and,  giving  the  girl  the 
exact  wages  which  she  had  earned,  —  reckoning 
the  washing  and  ironing  days  as  two  sevenths 
of  a  week,  —  she  discharged  her  without  further 
ceremony. 

He  could  give  a  hundred  tJwusand  dollars  to  a 
wealthy  church,  but  his  wife  could  not  afford  to  keep 
a  girl,  and  pay  her  two  dollars  a  week,  w7w  was  not 
able  to  do  tJie  work  which  usually  requires  four  per- 
sons to  perform. 


DESPAIR.  —  "THE   OLD   SCHOOL."  Ill 

The  servant-girl,  having  failed  for  the  third  time 
in  the  homes  of  the  most  philanthropic,  abandoned 
housework  in  despair,  and  accepted  a  position  in 
a  clothing  establishment,  where  she  sewed  upon 
thick  leather  cap-visors.  There  were  four  long 
stitches  in  each  visor,  and  she  must  take  nine  hun- 
dred of  those  stitches  for  twenty-five  cents,  yet 
with  all  the  toil  and  diminutiveness  of  the  wages, 
she  was  much  happier  and  much  more  American 
as  a  shop-girl  than  as  a  house-servant. 

IV. 

Now  there  is  a  class  of  old  families  in  the  cities 
who  pride  themselves  upon  belonging  to  the  "  old 
school."  This  is  not  so  much  the  case  in  the  West 
where,  everything  is  new,  as  in  the  established  com- 
munities of  the  older  States.  These  families  claim 
to  treat  their  servants  better  than  the  new  or  mod- 
ern school,  and  many  of  them  pride  themselves 
upon  retaining  a  tried  servant  for  a  number  of  con- 
secutive years.  The  "  new  school "  is  understood 
to  be  a  hard  place  for  servants,  as  the  masters  and 
mistresses  never  presume  to  hold  any  social  in- 
tercourse with  "  menials."  In  their  households  a 
girl  must  expect  to  suffer  slight  and  insult,  priva- 
tion and  the  severest  toil,  without  a  murmur.  This, 
however,  is  not  supposed  to  be  the  case  in  the  "  old 
school."  But,  to  show  that  the  position  of  a  maid- 


112  NATUEE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

servant  is  not  as  inviting  even  in  those  families  as 
has  generally  been  supposed,  as  well  as  to  show 
that  Nature  slights  not  the  servants  in  the  dispo- 
sition of  her  favors,  I  will  mention  one  case  which 
came  to  my  notice  ten  or  twelve  years  ago. 

A  maid-servant  having  retired  from  one  of  the 
"  old-schcol "  families,  a  girl  fresh  from  the  coun- 
try was  employed  to  fill  her  place.  Everything 
seemed  to  go  smoothly,  and  the  work  to  be  done 
satisfactorily,  for  a  considerable  time.  But  there 
came  a  season  when,  without  any  apparent  cause, 
the  mistress  of  the  house  became  dissatisfied  with 
the  servant-girl,  and  was  overheard  to  say  that 
"  unless  things  went  better  "  another  girl  would  be 
engaged  and  the  first  one  discharged.  On  consult- 
ing with  the  cook  the  perplexed  servant  learned 
that  the  mistress  had  several  times  taken  up  the 
door-mat  and,  rubbing  her  fingers  on  the  carpet  be- 
neath, had  applied  them  to  her  handkerchief  and 
found  them  dusty.  The  cook  believed  that  this 
was  the  sole  cause  of  the  dissatisfaction.  Taking 
the  precaution  afterward  to  sponge  as  well  as  sweep 
the  carpet  and  mat,  so  that  no  dust  should  adhere 
to  the  fingers  of  the  fastidious  mistress,  the  old 
feeling  of  mutual  confidence  between  mistress  and 
servant  was  restored. 

About  six  months  after,  another  cause  of  dis- 
satisfaction arose  as  inexplicable  to  the  maid  as 
the  first.  But  after  uniting  with  the  kitchen  "  colo- 


THE  FASTIDIOUS   MISTKESS.  113 

nel,"  for  whom  she  entertained  an  especial  friend- 
ship, and  who  devoted  all  his  energies  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  secret,  she  ascertained  that  the 
cause  lay  in  her  negligent  manner  of  sweeping 
the  parlor.  The  windows  of  that  apartment  were 
double,  with  sand-bags  on  the  casements,  and  thick 
curtain  folds  within,  so  that  it  was  an  impossibility 
for  dust  to  drift  in,  yet  the  rules  demanded  that  it 
should  be  swept  every  week,  and  the  kitchen-maid 
and  "  colonel "  were  detailed,  and  given  one  half  a 
day  to  perform  that  task.  One  very  large  piece 
of  furniture  required  their  united  strength  to  move 
it,  and  for  several  weeks  it  had  not  been  done. 
They  never  found  dust  there  when  the  room  had 
not  been  used ;  and  under  such  circumstances  they 
presumed  to  omit  the  removal  of  so  cumbersome 
a  piece  of  furniture.  On  moving  it,  however,  at  a 
time  when  the  blinds  had  been  thrown  open  to  ad- 
mit the  light,  they  found  a  number  of  little  apple- 
seeds  behind  it,  which  the  mistress  had  thrown  there 
for  the  purpose  of  detecting  the  girl  if  she  were  re- 
miss in  this  part  of  her  duty.  The  cabinet  was 
ever  after  removed,  the  seeds  swept  away,  and  the 
smile  of  the  mistress  resumed  its  accustomed  sway. 
.After  that  day  the  maid  and  "colonel"  many 
times  entered  the  parlor,  and  while  one  picked  up 
the  seeds,  raisin-stems,  &c.  which  the  mistress  had 
slyly  strewn  around  in  the  corners,  the  other  took 
the  books  from  the  shelves  and  read  aloud  ;  and 


114  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

sometimes  I  fear  that  they  sat  in  that  closed  parlor 
discussing  more  touching  topics  than  the  Waverley 
novels  or  Pope's  poems ;  for,  a  few  years  after  they 
were  married,  and,  inspired,  as  he  says,  by  the  ideas 
which  he  read  and  heard  in  that  tidy  parlor  in 
those  stolen  hours,  the  "  colonel "  began  a  business 
for  himself  which  has  made  him  one  of  the  richest 
merchants  of  Boston,  with  servants,  liveries,  and 
parlors  of  his  own. 

V. 

THERE  is  a  science  in  housekeeping  as  in  every 
other  occupation  that  requires  system  and  skill; 
and  to  one  who  thoroughly  understands  the  theory, 
and  loves  the  practice,  it  is  as  aggravating  to  see 
the  housework  awkwardly  conducted  as  it  would 
be  for  a  sensitive  architect  to  be  forced  into  the 
construction  of  a  zigzag,  irregular  stone  fence. 
There  are  servant-girls  who  are  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  best  methods  of  housekeep- 
ing, and  who  are  mentally  and  physically  fitted 
for  that  kind  of  work.  They  can  sweep  a  carpet, 
make  a  bed,  cook  a  pudding,  arrange  a  dinner,  or 
iron  a  ruffle  with  equal  skill ;  and  whatever  they  do 
is  well  done,  and,  at  the  same  time,  with  an  aston- 
ishingly small  outlay  of  strength  and  time.  One  of 
these  girls  was  Allie  Fenbush.  All  her  work  was 
like  the  mechanism  of  a  clock,  smooth,  prompt,  ex- 


AN  IGNORANT  HOUSEKEEPER.  115 

act.  She  could  do  more  work  in  a  given  time,  do 
it  better,  and  exhaust  herself  less  than  any  other 
whom  I  ever  saw.  But  it  so  happened  that  she 
was  employed  in  a  family  where  the  mistress  was 
not  only  ignorant  of  household  duties,  but  unre- 
fined in  all  her  ways  and  tastes.  She  was  arro- 
gant and  disagreeable,  quick-tempered  and  vain. 
She  wished  to  oversee  everything  that  was  done  in 
the  house,  and  was  incapable  of  doing  the  least 
thing  herself.  So  she  began  to  give  her  orders, 
saying,  Do  this,  do  that,  do  the  other,  and  in- 
terfered with  everything  that  was  done,  replacing 
system  by  disorder,  neatness  by  slovenliness,  and 
ease  by  arduous  toil.  To  a  nature  like  Allie's, 
this  lack  of  system,  and  perpetual,  unnecessary  an- 
noyance, was  a  greater  hardship  than  the  arrogance 
of  a  mistress  or  the  toil  unnecessarily  introduced. 
The  confusion  troubled  her  so  much  that  she  be- 
came very  nervous.  Having  no  certain  place  for 
any  article,  she  must  burden  her  memory  with  the 
place  where  it  was  last  dropped ;  and  without  any 
regulation  or  system,  she  was  sometimes  driven 
beyond  her  strength,  and  sometimes  idle,  until  it 
became  so  excruciating  that  Allie  abandoned  the 
place  where  she  received  good  pay  and  plenty  of 
food  for  a  place  in  the  shop,  where,  notwithstand- 
ing that  her  income  was  less,  her  liberty  to  system- 
atize and  economize  was  unrestricted. 


116  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

VI 

IT  may  seem  inconsistent  to  some  persons  that 
there  should  be  anything  great  or  noble  about  a 
life  in  the  kitchen.  And  a  few  may  smile  because 
I  give  so  much  space  to  housekeeping  details,  and 
will  doubtless  laugh  outright  when  they  hear  that 
human  greatness  may  be  found  in  the  cook-room 
or  laundry,  as  well  as  in  the  halls  of  legislation. 
There  is  one  woman  now  in  my  mind,  who,  al- 
though the  greater  part  of  her  long  life  was  con- 
fined to  the  kitchen  and  dining-halls,  was  just  as 
great  in  her  sphere  and  in  all  that  makes  true 
human  greatness  as  were  those  men  of  the  age  just 
passed  who  conducted  the  ship  of  state  over  such 
dangerous  shoals. 

Her  name  was  Mattie,  and  she  was  an  only  child. 
Her  father  died  when  she  was  quite  young,  and 
consequently  her  mother  humored  and  "  spoiled  " 
her "  in  those  youthful  days  with  too  much  love. 
Mattie  was  active  and  intelligent,  but  was  little 
inclined  to  study ;  and  her  over-indulgent  mother 
never  urged  her  to  undertake  anything  that  she 
disliked.  Thus  Mattie  grew  to  womanhood,  poorly 
educated  in  everything  but  good  manners,  and 
with  no  capital  but  her  handsome  features.  The 
latter  won  a  seaman  by  the  name  of  Parboly  for 
a  husband,  —  whose  character,  however,  was  un- 
known to  her  until  too  late,  —  who,  when  her  lit- 


THE   KITCHEN  QUEEN.  117 

tie  girl  was  a  year  old,  left  her  to  the  mercies 
of  a  world  concerning  which  she  knew  so  little. 
Then,  when  she  was  left  destitute,  with  no  living 
relative  or  near  friend  to  whom  she  might  apply, 
with  no  trade  and  but  little  education,  she  was 
obliged  to  find  some  employment  to  supply  the 
necessities  of  herself  and  child.  There  was  noth- 
ing that  offered  itself  but  the  position  of  a  kitchen- 
maid,  and,  although  she  knew  nothing  about  the 
duties,  she  entered  into  the  work  with  earnestness 
and  a  determination  to  make  it  a  life-work.  Forty 
years  ago,  when  she  entered  the  kitchen,  it  was  a 
far  different  place  from  those  apartments  now  an- 
swering to  the  same  name.  Then  a  servant  was 
a  member  of  the  household,  entitled  to  privileges 
which  are  now  laughed  at,  and  considered  the 
equal  of  those  she  served.  It  is  my  belief  that 
any  person  as  wonderfully  endowed  by  nature  as 
Mattie  seems  to  have  been  should  be  accepted  even 
now  as  the  equal  of  the  richest  and  best-educated 
women  of  the  day.  She  seemed  to  get  her  knowl- 
edge by  instinct ;  and  could  cook  a  pie,  arrange  a 
dinner,  or  talk  politics  when  she  first  began  with 
the  same  readiness  that  she  did  after  years  of  ex- 
perience. She  preferred  cooking,  however,  to  any 
other  work,  and  her  skill  in  that  direction  made 
the  house  where  she  lived  noted  in  all  the  aristo- 
cratic circles  for  its  fine  roasts,  puddings,  pies,  and 
edible  delicacies.  Meantime  she  paid  the  board 


118  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

of  her  child  in  a  refined  family,  where  she  placed 
it,  in  order  that  it  might  be  brought  up  and  edu- 
cated as  a  lady.  There  was  only  one  stipulation, 
however,  between  the  mother  and  the  guardians, 
and  that  provided  for  the  discipline  of  the  child 
without  a  blow.  For  that  child  she  strained  every 
muscle  and  nerve ;  and  provided  it  with  all  the  fine 
dresses,  books,  toys,  &c.  which  the  wealthy  family 
purchased  for  their  children.  She  was  never  idle, 
and  whenever  she  saw  a  spare  moment  in  her 
duties  as  a  cook,  she  applied  herself  to  embroidery 
and  fine  stitching,  which,  before  the  introduction 
of  that  great  invention  the  sewing-machine,  was 
all  done  by  hand.  She  was  as  skilful  in  that  as  in 
everything  else,  and  the  aristocratic  ladies  of  that 
time  often  came  into  the  kitchen  to  persuade  her 
to  accept  their  assistance  for  a  while  as  a  con- 
sideration for  some  fine  work  which  they  wished 
her  to  make  for  them.  When  her  skill  became 
noised  abroad,  ladies  came  to  see  her  work,  and 
always  carried  away  a  report  about  that  "  wonder- 
ful woman."  The  family  of  her  employer  belonged 
to  the  very  highest  circle  of  Boston  society,  and, 
as  was  sometimes  the  practice  then,  she  was 
induced  by  them  to  go  out  and  cook  dinners  for 
other  families  on  certain  great  occasions.  Soon  she 
became  an  indispensable  accompaniment  to  every 
public  dinner,  and  the  question  was  always  asked, 
"  When  can  we  get  Mrs.  Parboly  ? "  before  the 


A   LADY   CATEREK.  119 

day  was  set  or  the  funds  raised.  So  great  a  favor- 
ite was  she  that  carriages  were  sent  for  her,  and 
servants  appointed  to  wait  upon  her  while  a  din- 
ner was  in  preparation.  Her  employer  obtained 
for  her  a  divorce  from  her  husband,  and,  seeing 
that  she  could  make  much  more  money  as  an  in- 
dependent cook,  advised  her  to  make  it  her  sole 
work.  This  she  did,  and  for  many  years  she  was 
the  only  popular  caterer  in  Boston.  She  prepared 
all  the  state  dinners  of  Daniel  Webster,  Edward 
Everett,  and  their  contemporaries,  and  had  entire 
charge  of  the  cooking  department  at  the  dinners 
given  to  Lafayette,  to  General  Jackson,  to  Presi- 
dent Fillmore  and  Lord  Elgin,  when  they  visited 

Boston.     It  is  said  of  her  that  at  one  of  Daniel 

* 

Webster's  great  dinner-parties,  at  which  she  was 
always  present,  i.  e.  in  the  kitchen,  she  sent  out 
one  of  her  best  puddings  with  the  brandy-flame 
flickering  over  it.  The  shape  of  the  pudding  and  its 
composition  caused  it  to  be  recognized  at  once  as 
the  work  of  her  hands,  and  the  whole  assembly, 
among  whom  were  many  of  the  greatest  men  of 
that  day,  arose  and  gave  three  deafening  cheers  for 
Mrs.  Parboly. 

During  these  years  her  daughter  grew  to  wo- 
manhood, having  obtained  a  finished  education 
and,  at  the  same  time,  ripened  into  a  most  beauti- 
ful lady.  A  young  man  from  the  wealthy  circles 
wooed  and  won  her,  and  with  the  cheerful  consent 


120  NATURE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

of  Mrs.  Parboly  they  were  married  with  great 
pomp. 

Her  son-in-law  soon  began  to  feel  that  it  was  a 
disgrace  to  be  so  closely  related  to  a  cook,  and  he 
induced  her  to  leave  her  chosen  calling  and  take  up 
her  abode  with  him.  This  she  did  ;  although  she 
felt  much  more  comfortable  in  the  kitchen  than  in 
the  mansion.  Her  son-in-law  proved  to  be  too  gen- 
erous, and  in  a  few  years  ran  through  all  his  prop- 
erty. The  beginning  of  the  Mexican  war  found 
him  penniless  and  despairing,  and  entering  the  ser- 
vice as  an  army  officer  he  went  to  Mexico.  Then 
Mrs.  Parboly  again  entered  the  kitchens  and  offi- 
ciated at  dinners,  earning  sufficient  sums  to  support 
herself,  her  daughter,  and  the  two  grandchildren 
that  had  now  been  added  to  the  family.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  the  son  returned ;  but  his  health 
was  so  shattered  that  he  was  a  confirmed  invalid. 
Mrs.  Parboly  then  undertook  to  support  him  with 
the  rest,  and  for  the  two  years  which  he  lived  she 
kept  him  and  his  family  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances, paid  for  medicines,  doctors,  &c.,  and  de- 
voted a  considerable  time  to  a  personal  supervis- 
ion of  their  household  affairs. 

After  his  death  —  at  which  time  he  asked  Mrs. 
Parboly  to  keep  his  children  from  the  shop,  and 
wished,  if  it  ever  became  necessary  for  them  to 
work,  that  they  should  be  placed  in  the  kitchen 
where,  as  he  claimed,  she  had  learned  such  gener- 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS   GRANDMOTHER.  121 

osity  and  kindness  —  his  wife  became  insane  and 
was  taken  to  the  hospital,  while  the  two  girls  were 
left  to  the  care  of  their  grandmother.  As  true  and 
as  kind  as  she  was  intelligent,  and  as  cheerful,  live- 
ly, and  nimble  as  ever,  the  lady,  now  far  advanced 
in  life,  undertook  the  care  of  those  two  girls.  She 
clothed  and  boarded  them,  kept  them  in  school 
and  in  church,  anticipated  all  their  wants,  and  by 
wearing  herself  out  gave  them  luxury  and  ease. 
Soon  the  daughter  died,  and  the  grandchildren  were 
nominally  —  as  they  had  really  been  before  —  de- 
pendent orphans.  But  they  never  knew  care  or 
trouble ;  for  this  little  gray-haired  woman,  who 
.could  dance,  sing,  joke,  discuss  questions  affect- 
ing society  or  the  nation,  always  supplied  their 
wishes  and  necessities,  and  they  grew  into  woman- 
hood without  a  full  sense  of  the  devotion  which 
made  them  what  they  were. 

Mrs.  Parboly  was  a  patriot  and  an  abolitionist. 
She  would  make  great  sacrifices  either  for  the 
nation  or  for  the  slave. 

When  Daniel  Webster  sent  for  her  to  cook  a 
dinner  for  him,  shortly  after  his  great  7th  of 
March  speech,  she  refused  to  go,  and  when  ques- 
tioned by  him  she  defiantly  assured  him  that  she 
should  not  cook  another  dinner  for  him  as  long  as 
he  lived,  —  and  she  never  did. 

When  the  great  civil  war  began,  with  slavery 
upon  one  side  and  freedom  upon  the  other,  she  was 

6 


122  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

as  regular  a  subscriber  for  the  newspaper  and  as 
devoted  a  patriot  as  any  in  the  land. 

During  the  war,  and  while  she  was  keeping  a 
boarding-house,  her  granddaughters  were  married. 
One  entered  a  comfortable  home  near  Boston,  while 
the  other  married  an  army  officer.  To  the  Major 
Mrs.  Parboly  was  particularly  devoted,  as  she  ad- 
mired his  manhood  and  honored  his  fervent  patri- 
otism. But,  as  if  her  sorrow  were  not  yet  enough, 
this  idol  was  torn  from  her  at  the  time  when  it  was 
the  dearest,  and  the  wife  became  insane.  He  was 
killed  when  leading  his  regiment  into  battle,  and 
the  sorrow-stricken  wife,  losing  her  reason,  fol- 
lowed her  mother  to  the  confines  of  the  lunatic 
asylum,  leaving  her  little  boy,  a  great-grandchild, 
to  the  care  of  this  noble  woman,  then  nearly  ninety 
years  of  age. 

Her  lame  has  departed  with  the  generation  to 
whose  tastes  she  catered;  her  little  body  refuses 
to  obey  the  behests  of  her  wiH ;  the  friends  whom 
she  once  knew,  the  successful  business-men  whose 
prosperity  is  due  to  her  efforts  years  ago,  the  chil- 
dren she  once  fondled,  now  perhaps  gray-haired 
and  wrinkled,  all  have  become  as  strangers  to  her. 
There  in  her  little  cottage,  unassisted  by  the  gov- 
ernment pension  which  is  paid  for  the  wife  and  son 
of  the  patriot  one,  seldom  leaving  the  little  country 
town  to  visit  the  old  scenes,  she  awaits  the  end, 
cheered  by  the  loving  caresses,  cheerful  smiles,  and 


THE  LOVING  GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.  123 

undisguised  love  of  a  little  orphan  great-grand- 
child. Surely  she  was  a  princess  in  the  royal 
line  of  nature !  and  how  much  better  would  it  be 
for  the  people  if  such  as  she  were  seated  in  power, 
in  the  place  of  the  pretenders  and  usurpers  who 
now  throw  out  their  banners  as  the  rulers  of  the 
world !  Her  acts  proved  her  nobility,  and  they 
show  a  much  better  title  than  money  or  descent. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

THEN  AND  NOW  OF  FACTORY  LIFE. 

Spirit  of  the  Age.  —  Why  Servants  are  Impudent.  —  The  First 
Manufacturers.  —  Treatment  of  Operatives.  —  The  Factory- 
Girls.  —  The  Boarding-Houses.  —  The  Golden  Age  of  Factory 
Life.  —  The  First  Factories  in  3s"ew  England.  —  Growth  of 
the  System.  —  Incorporation.  —  The  Factories  of  England.  — 
The  Ten -Hour  Bill.  —  John  Bright.  —  Americans  descending 
and  the  English  ascending.  —  The  Operatives  now  in  Ameri- 
can Employ.  —  History  of  a  Factory  which  prospered  with 
the  "  Old  School"  and  failed  with  the  "New." 


is  an  age  of  bargains  and  contracts. 
-*-  Those  good  old  days  of  generous  hospitality, 
of  friendly  assistance,  and  of  mutual  good-will 
have  passed  into  history  as  a  tiling  that  existed 
once,  but  can  never  come  again.  Everything  that 
is  performed  to-day  seems  to  be  done  under  a  con- 
tract, in  which  each  gesture,  step,  and  thought  is 
entered  in  the  specifications.  Once,  when  a  labor- 
er was  employed,  there  were  many  things  "  under- 
stood" that  were  not  expressed  in  the  contract. 
The  laborer  was  to  give  a  fair  return  for  his  wages, 


BARGAINS  WITH  SERVANTS.  125 

and  if  it  could  not  be  done  in  one  way  it  was  to 
be  done  in  another.  The  employer,  when  he  con- 
tracted to  pay  a  certain  sum  for  a  stated  amount 
of  labor,  was  understood  to  include  friendly  treat- 
ment and  reasonable  assistance.  Then  the  servant- 
girl  was  not  only  paid  her  weekly  wages,  but  made 
a  member  of  the  family,  and  cared  for  with  a 
friendly  interest.  Now  she  contracts  to  do  a  speci- 
fied amount  of  certain  kinds  of  work,  and  cannot 
be  induced  to  do  anything  more  without  an  in- 
crease of  pay.  When  the  annoyed  mistress  gets 
angry  at  the  applicant  for  a  situation  who  asks 
how  many  shirts  there  are  to  wash,  how  many  beds 
to  be  cared  for,  how  many  persons  in  the  family 
and  how  many  servants,  how  many  spare  hours 
the  servants  are  allowed  each  week,  and,  perhaps, 
if  the  mistress  permits  the  waiters  to  use  the  li- 
brary or  parlor,  she  forgets  that  it  is  the  fault  of 
mistresses  themselves.  Now  there  is  nothing  what- 
ever understood  between  the  parties,  as  the  mis- 
tress expects  to  do  as  she  promises  and  nothing 
more.  She  is  not  nowadays  supposed  to  treat  a 
girl  as  an  equal,  make  the  house  into  a  home  for 
servants,  or  give  them  any  sympathy,  unless  she 
contracts  to  do  so.  The  girl  gets  nothing  but 
money,  and  she  intends  to  render  such  service  as 
will  earn  just  that  and  no  more.  Once  servants 
were  under  obligations  to  interest  themselves  in 
the  prosperity  of  the  house,  and  have  a  friendly 


126  NATUEE'S  AEISTOCEACY. 

eye  to  the  comfort  of  the  inmates,  "because  they  re- 
ceived, besides  their  wages,  sympathy,  kindness, 
respect,  and  even  love;  either  of  which  is  of  as 
much  value  as  the  wages. 

To  be  able  to  drive  a  sharp  trade  or  overreach  a 
competitor  seems  to  be  the  summum  bohum  of 
modern  ambition.  No  regard  is  had  for  the  value 
of  an  article,  either  to  the  seller  or  the  purchaser ; 
but  the  life  of  trade  consists  in  getting  as  much 
and  giving  as  little  as  possible.  A  hundred  years 
ago  there  was  a  man  in  New  Haven  who  hired  a 
neighbor  to  come  and  sit  on  the  fence  while  the 
employer  picked  up  the  stones  in  the  garden-patch. 
His  reason  was  that,  although  he  could  do  the 
work  "sorter  well  enough"  himself,  yet  "the  lone- 
someness  did  n't  go  so  well  alone."  *  The  idea  of 
hiring  a  person  "  to  keep  company,"  or  paying  for 
sociability  or  kindness,  is  not  so  ridiculous  after  all ; 
yet  to  the  money-worshippers  of  this  day  such 
a  proposition  would  be  hooted  with  contempt. 
There  is  no  value  in  anything  but  exchangeable 
representatives  of  gold  and  silver.  Even  public 
and  private  parties,  balls,  receptions,  dinners,  and 
celebrations  are  patronized  only  just  so  far  as  they 
will  pay  in  dollars  and  cents ;  and  the  first  ques- 
tion usually  asked  of  a  friend  after  marriage  is 
with  reference  to  the  financial  standing  of  the 
other  party.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  say  that 

*  Yalensia  Magazine. 


FACTOKIES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.      127 

affection,  sociability,  and  respect  are  unknown,  or 
that  everybody  has  drowned  his  moral  self  in  ava- 
rice ;  but  that  the  spirit  of  the  age  tends  most 
astonishingly  toward  this  result. 

This  tendency  is  exhibited  in  its  strongest  light 
in  connection  with  the  factory  system  of  New 
England,  which  has  fallen  very  far  from  the  "  high 
estate  "  that  it  once  occupied. 

II. 

WHEN  the  first  factories  of  New  England  began 
their  existence,  they  were  owned  by  men  who  had 
made  their  money  in  honest  industry,  and  who 
started  those  enterprises  because  they  felt  them- 
selves naturally  fitted  for  such  a  work.  They  were 
truly  models  of  natural  genius,  and  subsequent 
events  proved  them  to  be  the  greatest  men  of  our 
land.  Under  their  guidance  the  factory  system  of 
New  England  was  everything  that  the  most  phil- 
anthropic could  claim  for  it.  They  not  only  made 
themselves  rnillionnaires,  but  they  made  all  their 
employees  happy  by  providing  them  with  ample 
wages,  good  homes,  and  with  friendly  assistance 
in  every  time  of  need.  In  those  halcyon  days  an 
operative  was  an  equal  with  the  owner  and  agent, 
and  was  treated  as  if  entitled  to  all  the  privileges 
which  the  employer  enjoyed,  having  of  course  a 
regard  for  the  relative  occupations.  One  was  a 


128  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

shopman,  and  in  the  shop  was  expected  to  do  a 
shopman's  work.  The  owners  were  overseers,  and 
were  respected  in  that  station.  The  whole  sys- 
tem was  like  a  community  in  which  every  person 
was  equally  privileged,  but  where  each  cheerfully 
undertook  the  work  best  fitted  for  his  natural 
talent.  Owner,  agent,  overseer,  and  day-laborers 
visited  each  in  the  other's  family,  and  discussed 
politics,  or  chatted  together,  out  of  work  hours, 
without  presumption  or  restraint.  Then  the  own- 
er was  generous  enough  to  give  the  working  men 
and  women  wages  in  a  measure  proportionate  to 
their  profits.  When  he  prospered  he  made  them 
presents,  and  in  times  of  unsuccessful  trade  he  did 
not  visit  his  misfortune  upon  them.  They  were 
his  friends ;  and  on  anniversary  days  and  occasions 
of  unusual  interest  he  would  consult  with  the  em- 
ployees about  closing  the  factory,  and,  if  desired 
by  a  large  majority,  the  wheel  was  stopped,  and  all 
joined  in  whatever  exercises  the  day  demanded. 

III. 

THE  factory  buildings  in  those  days  were  large 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  operatives,  and 
were  constructed  in  the  most  stable  manner.  They 
were  clean  and  tidy,  convenient  and  cheerful. 
The  yards  were  sodded,  and  adorned  with  ever- 
greens and  flower-beds ;  while  bath-houses,  and  even 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  FACTORY  LIFE.  129 

libraries,  were  attached  to  several.  There  were 
persons  employed  whose  entire  business  consisted 
in  sweeping  and  cleaning  the  factory,  and  who  un- 
derstood well  the  arts  of  neatness  and  convenience. 
The  employees  were  selected  from  the  healthiest  • 
and  most  buoyant  farmers'  girls,  and  from  the 
ranks  of  genial,  honest  men.  They  were  the  most 
intelligent  class  of  New  England  society,  and  have 
since  filled  many  of  the  highest  offices  and  most 
influential  positions  in  the  nation.  Many  of  them 
were  school-girls,  and  spent  their  vacations  in  the 
factory ;  others  belonged  to  wealthy  families,  and 
wished  to  show  their  independence  of  character  by 
earning  their  own  living;  while  the  men  were, 
many  of  them,  students  paying  their  way  by  fac- 
tory work,  or  heads  of  families  who  wished  for 
employment  near  their  homes.  The  girls  usually 
went  home  during  the  summer,  to  assist  at  the 
farming  or  attend  the  academy ;  and  when  they 
returned  to  the  factory,  blooming  with  health,  they 
were  welcomed  by  such  as  remained  or  had  pre- 
viously returned,  with  affectionate  demonstra- 
tions of  joy.  They  were  never  overworked,  as 
there  were  a  large  number  of  '•'  spare  hands,"  always 
ready  to  take  the  place  of  one  who  was  ill  or  ex- 
hausted, and  their  wages  were  such  that  they  were 
satisfied  with  the  care  of  one  or  two  machines. 
Their  work  was  really  play.  For  in  no  place  did 
they  enjoy  themselves  so  well  as  in  the  factory  ; 

G*  I 


130  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

and  often  there  were  found  wealthy  men's  daugh- 
ters crying  for  a  chance  "  to  go  into  the  shop."  It 
was  industrious  recreation ;  and  in  it  no  person 
was  idle.  Tatting,  edging,  fine  stitching,  embroid- 
ery, crochet,  and  braiding  were  produced  by  the 
thousand  yards  from  the  nimble  hands  of  the  loorn- 
tenders  or  "  spare  hands."  At  every  interval  when 
the  loom  required  no  attention,  or  when  waiting 
for  "  supplies,"  those  happy,  light-hearted  girls 
plied  their  needle  or  wrought  their  thread-work 
with  untiring  industry  and  with  astonishing  nat- 
ural skill  They  were  endowed  with  literary  taste ; 
and  some  of  them  wrote  articles  for  magazines  and 
first-class  periodicals,  while  others  read  and  criti- 
cised the  latest  books,  or  employed  their  spare 
hours  in  arranging  Shakespeare's  plays  for  the 
stage  of  private  theatricals,  and  rehearsing  them 
on  the  packing-boxes.  Books  were  then  seen  on 
nearly  every  window-sill,  lying  open  or  containing 
embroidered  "  marks,"  which,  like  everything  val- 
uable that  the  girls  brought  into  the  factory,  were 
never  liable  to  injury  or  theft. 

The  boarding-houses,  where  operatives  were  pro- 
vided with  board  for  $1.25  per  week,  were  pro- 
vided with  all  the  comforts  of  a  rural  home  ;  and 
the  keepers  were  always  kind  old  ladies,  who  were 
acquainted  with  all  classes  of  cooking,  knew  how 
to  arrange  a  house,  and  loved  young  people. 
Many  a  girl  formed  an  attachment  for  the  cheer- 


THE  GOOD   OLD  DAYS.  131 

ful,  kind-hearted  boarding-house  mistresses  which 
was  as  tender  and  nearly  as  strong  as  that  which 
they  entertained  for  their  own  mothers.  Those 
evenings  when  sewing,  reading,  games,  and  jokes 
entertained  the  company  were  the  happiest  of 
many  a  girl's  life ;  while  those  quiet  Sabbaths, 
when  the  church-bell  was  the  only  breaker  of  the 
holy  silence,  were  the  sweetest  and  dearest  Sun- 
days of  life.  Ah,  happy  days  !  when  in  youth- 
ful vigor  the  innocent  and  guileless  daughters  of 
old  New  England  were  able,  without  disgrace  or 
contamination,  to  earn  their  own  livelihood  and  rest 
in  the  sweet  satisfaction  of  being  dependent  upon 
no  one  !  No  coarse  jokes,  no  drunken  suitors,  no 
vile  gossip,  no  jealousy,  no  care,  and  no  fear.  That 
was  the  "  golden  age  "  of  factory  life,  and  many 
hearts  will  sigh  for  "  the  days  gone  by  "  when  this 
reminder  of  the  past  comes  to  their  notice.  They 
will  recall  with  pleasure  even  the  days  of  illness, 
when,  with  the  factory  physician,  the  owners' 
wives,  and  the  detailed  operatives,  who  cared  for 
them,  they  were  happier  than  they  have  been  since 
when  in  health  and  strength.  They  will  remem- 
ber the  kind  face  of  the  agent  who  made  them  a 
present,  and  paid  them  for  the  lost  time  when  they 
had  recovered.  They  cannot  suppress  a  tear  as 
they  recount  the  kind  reception,  the  congratula- 
tions, and  good  wishes  of  their  associates,  when 
they  joyfully  took  their  places  at  the  soul-stirring 


132  NATURE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

and  fascinating  loom,  to  listen  again  to  the  magic 
click  of  the  flyers,  the  tingling  "  cracks  "  of  the 
drop-wire  and  shuttle,  and  be  lulled  into  a  waking 
repose  by  the  monotonous  roar  of  the  mighty  ma- 
chinery in  the  rooms  below. 

IV. 

THE  growth  of  the  factory  system  in  the  United 
States,  and  especially  in  New  England,  furnishes 
an  excellent  field  for  thoughtful  research.  But  a 
lengthy  discussion  of  the  subject  cannot  find  place 
in  this  book. 

The  first  cotton-factory  ever  built  in  this  coun- 
try was  constructed  in  the  town  of  Beverly, 
Mass.,  in  the  year  1787,  and  the  machinery  was 
propelled  by  horse-power.  Between  that  date 
and  the  year  1800  several  factories  —  rude,  of 
course,  in  their  construction,  and  able  only  to  weave 
the  thickest  and  roughest  fabrics  —  were  estab- 
lished in  Ehode  Island  and  Connecticut.  But  the 
year  1793  is  the  date  which  the  cotton  manufac- 
turers of  the  United  States  have  adopted  as  the 
"birthday"  of  the  cotton  manufacturing  system 
of  the  country.  That  year  Samuel  Slater,  the 
"father  of  cotton  manufacture,"  opened  his  mill 
at  Pawtucket,  R  I.,  and  for  the  first  time  tried 
the  experiment  of  manufacturing  cotton  with 
water-power.  There  was  but  little  encouragement, 


HISTORY  OF  COTTON-FACTORIES.  133 

however,  for  American  manufacturers  during  the 
twenty  years  that  followed,  owing  to  the  cheapness 
of  labor  in  England  and  the  other  vastly  superior 
advantages  which  the  English  possessed  for  the 
manufacture  and  improvement  of  machinery.  But 
in  the  war  of  1812,  which  stopped  the  importation 
of  all  English  goods  and  sent  the  prices  of  such 
fabrics  into  fabulous  figures,  the  necessity  of  being 
able  to  make  our  own  clothing  and  of  assuming  a 
greater  independence  of  England  was  recognized, 
and  measures  were  adopted  for  the  increase  of  our 
manufacturing  facilities.  In  1813  the  first  factory 
in  Lowell  was  erected  on  the  site  which  is  covered 
at  present  by  the  great  factories  of  the  Middlesex 
Manufacturing  Company.  That  building  was  con- 
structed almost  entirely  of  wood,  and  drew  its 
water  supplies  from  a  dam  of  very  small  propor- 
tions, if  compared  with  the  mighty  dikes  and 
butments  of  the  present  day.  In  1814  the  first 
power-loom  was  started  in  a  small  factory  at  "Wal- 
tham,  Mass.,  and  was  soon  after  introduced  in 
Dover,  K  H.,  Lowell,  Mass.,  Pawtucket,  E.  L,  and 
in  several  places  in  Connecticut. 

In  1820  calico  print-works  were  established  on 
a  nourishing  basis,  and  the  manufacturing  sys- 
tem was  declared  to  be  in  every  way  a  success. 
Each  succeeding  year  saw  new  buildings,  new 
dams,  new  companies,  an  increased  demand  for  la- 
borers, until,  after  adding  untold  millions  to  the 


134  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

wealth  of  the  nation,  and  giving  us  real  national 
independence,  we  find,  to-day,  in  New  England 
one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  operatives  em- 
ployed in  that  single  branch  of  American  industry. 
When  it  was  proposed  to  charter  a  great  corpo- 
ration, and  give  to  that  body  certain  privileges  and 
rights  which  individuals  did  not  enjoy,  there  was 
great  opposition  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 
It  was  said  that  corporations  were  prejudicial  to 
the  liberties  of  individuals,  and  that  as  moneyed 
monopolies  they  could  defeat  any  attempt  to  com- 
pete with  them  on  the  part  of  private  parties.  It 
was  feared  by  the  statesmen  of  that  early  day, 
that  although  the  men  then  applying  for  a  charter 
were  no  doubt  honest,  honorable,  and  capable  men, 
yet  they  might  have  successors  in  whose  hands 
such  corporations  would  be  a  dangerous  power. 
They  hesitated  for  a  long  time,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  this  jealousy  of  all  encroachments 
on  private  liberty  would  have  defeated  the  first 
attempt  at  manufacturing  incorporation,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  argument  that  in  no  other  way  could 
we  compete  with  England.  It  was  thought  that 
the  superior  intelligence  of  our  operatives  would 
balance  the  quantity  of  labor  in  England,  and  that 
our  great  water-powers  would  give  us  sufficient 
advantage  over  the  costly  steam-power  of  Eng- 
land to  meet  the  expense  of  crowding  our  fabrics 
into  the  markets  where  only  English  manufactures 


GROWTH  OF  MANUFACTURE.  135 

had  been  known.  So  confident  was  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  a  Waltham  factory  who  had  visited 
England  that  by  incorporation  we  could  compete 
with  England,  he  declared  it  to  be  his  belief  that 
the  day  would  soon  come  when,  instead  of  receiv- 
ing thirty-three  cents  per  yard,  which  in  1816  was 
the  price  of  cotton  cloth,  the  manufacturer  would 
be  able  to  make  money  by  disposing  of  his  cotton 
productions  at  eight  cents  a  yard.  Few  believed 
him  then,  though  the  result  more  than  fulfilled 
liis  prophecy.  These  arguments  overcame  the 
objections,  and,  thinking  that  it  would  be  better  to 
trust  our  own  citizens  with  a  "  dangerous  power " 
than  to  be  so  dependent  upon  such  an  enemy  as 
England,  the  legislators  withdrew  their  objections, 
and  a  precedent  was  established  which  would  be 
followed  in  all  applications  for  similar  establish- 
ments. By  this  act  of  incorporation  several  men 
were  permitted  to  form  a  stock  company,  construct 
buildings,  hire  laborers,  and  make  their  own  by- 
laws. The  enforcement  of  the  rules  and  by-laws 
was  also  placed  in  the  hands,  of  the  corporations  ; 
so  that  within  their  own  precincts  they  were  the 
sole  legislators  and  executors.  But  so  generous 
were  the  corporators,  and  so  democratic  were  the 
officers,  that  the  factory  system  was  everywhere 
hailed  with  delight ;  and  the  thoughts  of  oppres- 
sion, wrong,  and  cruelty  were  as  far  from  the  minds 
of  the  operatives  as  they  were  from  the  hearts  of 


136  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

the  proprietors.  No  moneyed  enterprise  was  ever 
started  under  the  guidance  of  better  men  or  with 
purer  motives ;  nor  was  there  ever  employed  such 
a  number  of  educated,  able,  honest,  and  industri- 
ous men  and  women  in  any  country,  at  any  time, 
as  were  the  employees  in  our  cotton  "  factory  sys- 
tem," during  the  first  half-century  of  its  existence. 

V. 

THE  English  factory-system  with  wliich  Ameri- 
can manufacturers  were  obliged  to  compete  was 
just  the  reverse  of  the  American  system.  Ours  be- 
gan by  employing  the  best  class  of  the  community, 
and  by  paying  them  ample  wages ;  while  the  Eng- 
lish capitalists  hired  the  very  lowest  classes,  and 
paid  the  smallest  wages  possible.  The  competition 
was  wholly  between  our  intelligent  few  and  their 
ignorant  many,  with  high  wages  on  one  side  and 
small  pay  upon  the  other.  In  the  contest,  Amer- 
ica had  the  disadvantage  of  being  without  skilled 
laborers,  of  having  no  ready-made  market,  and  of 
having  none  but  small  capitalists.  Yet  the  ad- 
vantages which  intelligent  and  well-paid  labor  gave 
us  over  the  English  cheap  brute-force  counterbal- 
anced the  great  disadvantages,  and  America  was 
able  soon  not  only  to  compete  in  the  same  fair 
field,  but  to  underbid  England  in  the  sale  of  her 
best  staples.*  Then,  as  now,  and  as  ever  has 

*  In  the  American  markets. 


ENGLISH   TEN-HOUR  BILL.  137 

been,  and  ever  will  be,  well-paid  labor  was  the 
most  profitable  to  the  employer.  It  may  be  that 
the  generous  and  prosperous  example  set  by  Amer- 
ica awakened  the  statesmen  of  England  to  a  just 
sense  of  their  duty ;  for  it  was  at  the  beginning 
of  our  factory  enterprises  (1818)  that  Sir  Eobert 
Peel  called  the  attention  of  the  British  Parliament 
to  the  tyranny  and  cruelty  practised  in  the  large 
manufacturing  towns  of  England.  At  that  time 
the  condition  of  the  operatives  —  the  greatest  por- 
tion of  whom  were  children  —  was  most  deplora- 
ble. The  old  English  plan  of  apprentice-slavery 
was  abolished,  so  that  "  cheap  labor  "  could  not  be 
secured  under  the  cover  of  that  device,  and  when 
the  introduction  of  machinery  led  the  proprietors 
to  think  that  the  employment  of  skilled  labor  was 
unnecessary,  those  short-sighted  and  stony-hearted 
men  sought  out  all  the  little  ignorant  children  in 
the  lowest  and  poorest  parts  of  the  great  cities,  and, 
with  threats  and  even  lashings,  made  them  tend 
upon  the  machinery  of  the  cotton-factories.  Un- 
der relentless  overseers,  these  poor  children,  in  rags 
and  dirt,  were  made  to  work  fourteen  or  sixteen 
hours  a  day,  and  given  the  most  slovenly  quarters 
and  the  most  unpalatable  food.  As  disease  or  ex- 
haustion carried  them  off,  others  were  found  to 
take  the  vacant  places,  and  a  worse  slavery  insti- 
tuted, under  the  very  shadow  of  Britannia's  Parlia- 
ment, than  any  which  that  body  had  been  so  long 
opposing  in  the  Colonies. 


138  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Notwithstanding  Sir  Robert's  earnest  appeals, 
and  his  evidence  showing  the  outrageous  treat- 
ment of  the  girls  and  all  classes  of  employees,  that 
dull  body,  which  at  times  seems,  like  corporations, 
to  have  "  no  soul,"  took  no  action,  but,  like  so  many 
bullfrogs,  croaked  one  another  into  a  fury,  and  ad- 
journed without  action.  Then  began  that  "  thirty 
years'  fight"  which  raged  with  such  animosity 
nearly  every  year  in  the  halls  of  British  legislation, 
culminating,  at  last,  in  the  passage  of  the  Ten- 
Hour  Bill,  in  1848.  Why  it  was  necessary  for 
Lord  Ashley,  Richard  Ostler,  Thomas  M.  Sadler, 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  The  Bishop  of  Oxford,  Lord  Ma- 
caulay,  Earl  Grey,  Philip  Grant,*  Lord  Palmerston, 
and  other  great  men  to  prove  and  reprove,  frame 
and  amend,  so  many  bills,  make  so  many  appeals 
and  so  much  sacrifice,  in  order  to  convince  that 
legislature  of  a  crime  that  was  patent  to  the  eyes  of 
the  least  observing,  is  now  a  wonder.  Yet  such 
men  as  Lord  Brougham,  John  A.  Roebuck,  and 
John  Bright  would  not  be  convinced,  and  through 
a  period  of  thirty  years  —  time  enough  to  make 
old  men  and  women  of  the  abused  operatives  about 
whom  the  controversy  first  began — it  found  such 
able  and  influential  opposers. 

There  is  no  man  who,  taken  in  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent history,  would  seem  less  likely  to  oppose 
oppression  and  advocate  the  claims  of  the  suffer- 

*  Charles  Cheeryble,  of  Dickens's  "  Nicholas  Nickleby." 


JOHN  BRIGHT.  139 

ing  children  than  John  Bright;  yet  he  was  one 
of  their  bitterest  and  most  relentless  foes.  He 
frightened  the  House  of  Commons  with  threats 
that  if  they  meddled  with  the  cotton-factories,  the 
manufacturers  would  remove  their  mills  to  Swit- 
zerland. He  claimed  that  the  children  had  better 
"  work  out  than  rust  out,"  and  he  even  accused  the 
advocates  of  reform  of  hypocrisy,  avarice,  and  a  sil- 
ly desire  for  cheap  notoriety.  He  pandered  to  the 
aristocracy,  was  cheek-by-jowl  with  the  capitalists 
and  stockholders,  and  made  for  himself  a  dark 
record,  which  will  require  a  few  more  years  of  pa- 
triotism and  stronger  words  of  repentance  than  he 
has  yet  spoken  to  convince  the  author  that  he  is 
the  "  disinterested  philanthropist "  which  he  now 
claims  to  be.  Notwithstanding  his  great  speeches 
against  the  bill,  and  the  opposition  of  "  our  most 
noble  Queen,"  the  right  prevailed  and  the  hours  of 
labor  were  reduced  to  ten  hours ;  the  pay  remain- 
ing unchanged  or  being  raised,  while  the  stockhold- 
ers obtained  greater  dividends  than  ever  before. 

During  all  those  years  of  fierce  agitation  the 
condition  of  the  working-classes  gradually  im- 
proved, and,  when  the  bill  finally  passed,  the  manu- 
facturers had  so  far  learned  the  necessity  of  paying 
some  attention  to  the  health  of  their  employees 
that  there  was  much  less  necessity  for  it  than  when 
the  agitation  began.  Nevertheless  it  was  needed, 
and  had  a  great  influence  upon  the  social  and 


140  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

moral  condition  of  the  'working-men.  As  those 
natural  and  social  noblemen  who  advocated  the 
cause  expected,  it  gave  the  laboring-classes  cour- 
age, impressed  upon  their  minds  some  sense  of 
their  own  importance,  and  created  a  desire  for  edu- 
cation and  social  standing  never  before  exhibited 
by  them.  So  that  for  sixty  years  the  operatives 
of  England  have  been  gradually  ascending  the  scale 
of  human  progress,  and  are  asserting  their  natural 
right  to  the  same  consideration  which  other  men 
and  women  enjoy.  Their  condition  to-day  is  not 
by  any  means  an  enviable  one ;  and  to  the  observ- 
er who  sees  them  as  they  are,  and  knows  not  to 
what  degradation  they  were  once  reduced,  it  may 
seem  absurd  to  speak  of  their  progress  in  the  past. 
Even  now,  notwithstanding  that  they  have  been 
going  up  and  American  operatives  have  been  going 
down  in  wages  and  social  privileges,  the  English 
working-classes  as  a  body  are  far  below  those  of 
America.  Charles  Dickens  saw  this  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  first  visit  to  America,  and,  speaking  of 
the  factories  at  Lowell,  said :  *  "  I  have  carefully 
abstained  from  drawing  a  comparison  between  these 
factories  and  those  of  our  own  land.  Many  of  the 
circumstances,  whose  strong  influence  has  been  at 
work  for  years  in  our  manufacturing  towns,  have 
not  arisen  here;  and  there  is  no  manufacturing 
population  in  Lowell,  so  to  speak,  for  these  girls 

*  American  Kotes. 


DICKENS   AND   AMERICAN   FACTORIES.         141 

(often  the  daughters  of  small  fanners)  come  from 
other  States,  remain  a  few  years  in  the  mills,  and 
then  go  home  for  good.  The  contrast  would  be  a 
strong  one,  for  it  would  be  between  the  good  and 
the  evil,  the  living  light  and  deepest  shadow.  I 
abstain  from  it  because  I  deem  it  just  to  do  so. 
But  I  only  the  more  earnestly  adjure  all  those 
whose  eyes  may  rest  on  these  pages  to  pause  and 
reflect  upon  the  difference  between  this  town  and 
those  great  haunts  of  desperate  misery,  to  call  to 
mind  if  they  can,  in  the  midst  of  party  strife  and 
squabble,  the  efforts  that  must  be  made  to  purge 
them  of  their  suffering  and  danger,  and,  last  and 
foremost,  to  remember  how  the  precious  time  is 
rushing  by." 

Although  Dickens  made  a  pretty  accurate  esti- 
mate of  the  high  character  of  the  Lowell  factory- 
girls,  yet  he  saw  their  life  necessarily  through  the 
mental  lenses  which  his  escort  of  stockholders  gave 
him,  and  his  exalted  opinion  of  American  factories 
was  perhaps  gained  more  by  a  contrast  with  those 
of  England  than  by  measuring  them  by  any  ideal 
standard  of  his  own.  Doubtless  that  General 
who  marched  through  "  files .  of  beautifully  at- 
tired factory-girls,  miles  long,"  thought  them  to 
be  the  happiest  beings  on  earth ;  perhaps  he  would 
have  thought  differently  had  they  worn  hearts  on 
their  sleeves  instead  of  the  stockholders'  frocks. 

But  it  may  be  that  they  were  all  happy  then,  as 


142  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

that  was  a  long  while  ago,  and  perhaps  they  were 
comfortable  when  Dickens  made  his  visit.  But 
they  were  not  as  happy  nor  as  comfortable  when 
Dickens  saw  them  as  they  were  when  the  Gen- 
eral saw  them,  neither  are  they  as  well  situated  to- 
day as  they  were  when  Dickens  saw  them.  "  Get- 
ting much  and  giving  little,"  which  marks  the  age, 
is  raising  the  cost  of  living,  reducing  the  wages 
and  the  value  of  money,  and  affecting  them  deeply, 
as  it  does  all  the  other  laborers  in  the  land. 


VI. 

WITHIN  ten  years  the  class  of  operatives  in 
American  factories  has  almost  wholly  changed. 
The  great  men,  for  whom  nature  did  so  much,  and 
who  valued  mankind  for  their  mental  and  physical 
qualities,  have  passed  away  one  after  another  and 
left  their  places  to  be  filled  by  others.  Unfortu- 
nately their  mantles  have  in  many  cases  fallen 
upon  the  shoulders  of  men  who,  although  they 
were  heirs  to  the  property,  were  not  inheritors  of 
their  fathers'  natural  goodness  or  ability.  Money, 
not  nature,  has  made  them  aristocrats.  In  New 
England,  where  the  manufacturing  wealth  was 
confined  to  so  few,  a  select  aristocracy  was  years 
ago  established,  and  as  each  rich  man  wished  his 
child  to  marry  into  a  wealthy  family,  they  were 
obliged  to  marry  cousins.  This  defiance  of  nature 


FACTORY  ARISTOCRACY.  143 

brought  upon  the  stage  a  race  of  half-witted,  men- 
tal cripples, — if  not  idiots,  at  least  possessing  un- 
evenly balanced  minds.  And  to-day,  as  much  as  I 
dislike  to  own  or  record  it,  there  is  but  little  of 
that  open-hearted  enterprise  and  far-seeing  sagaci- 
ty which  characterized  the  generation  of  factory- 
owners  who  have  just  gone  to  the  grave.  The 
present  generation  have  but  little  confidence  in 
themselves,  and  entertain  the  idea  that  everybody 
else  is  as  unstable  and  unprincipled  as  they. 
Hence  they  never  venture  their  money  where  its 
safe*  return  depends  upon  human  love,  honesty, 
or  honor.  They  reverse  the  law  maxim,  and  think 
everybody  guilty  until  proof  has  been  entered  in 
due  form  establishing  innocence  or  honesty.  Their 
fathers  could  see  a  fortune  in  the  distance,  and 
made  others  rejoice  with  them  in  the  delightful 
prospect ;  but  the  stockholders  of  to-day  hold  the 
cent  so  near  their  eyes  that  a  fortune  farther  away 
is  not  visible.  They  do  not  consider  the  good- will 
of  the  operatives  of  any  consequence,  and  can  see 
no  more  value  in  the  man  who  cares  carefully  for 
their  interests  than  they  do  in  another  who  does 
just  what  he  is  told  and  nothing  more.  While 
such  natural  aristocrats  as  their  fathers  were  would 
be  raising  the  pay  of  the  workmen,  beautifying  the 
factories  and  homes,  educating  the  children,  and 
at  the  same  time  filling  their  own  coffers  with  un- 
told riches,  these  usurping  successors  cut  down  the 


144  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

wages,  take  no  care  of  the  laborers,  school  none  but 
their  own,  and  wonder  how  it  is  that  they  cannot 
increase  their  riches  as  readily  as  did  their  fathers. 
They  think  that  the  "  times  "  have  changed ;  but 
individual  examples  which  remain  of  nature's  "  old 
school "  show  that  it  is  not  the  "  times,"  but  the 
" men"  that  have  so  much  changed. 

VII. 

AN  apt  illustration  of  the  short-sightedness  of 
descendants,  whose  only  claim  to  position  or  notice 
lies  in  the  fact  that  their  fathers  were  what  they 
are  not,  occurred  a  few  years  ago  in  connection 
with  a  cotton-mill  with  the  history  of  which  I 
happened  to  be  well  acquainted.  When  I  first 
became  familiar  with  the  mill  and  its  operatives,  it 
was  one  of  the  most  flourishing  establishments  of 
the  kind  in  New  England.  The  first  generation 
of  proprietors,  who  by  their  genius  had  raised 
themselves  from  poverty  and  obscurity  to  wealth 
and  fame,  understood  well  the  detail  of  each  de- 
partment, and  were  practically,  although  not  nomi- 
nally, the  overseers.  They  were  still  in  active  life 
when  I  first  entered  the  town,  and  the  marks  of 
their  enterprise  were  everywhere  apparent.  Each 
operative  was  known  to  some  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors, and  their  industry  and  good  character  was 
established  before  they  were  admitted  to  the  mill. 


THE   GOOD   OLD   TIMES.  145 

The  boarding-houses  were  often  visited  by  the 
owners  of  the  mill,  and  the  health,  comfort,  and 
recreation  of  the  girls  cared  for  in  the  kindest 
manner.  If  a  keeper  of  a  boarding-house  was  not 
obliging  and  lady-like  in  her  deportment  toward 
the  employees,  she  was  dismissed  at  once  and 
another  secured.  Everything  within  the  mill  was 
kept  as  neat  as  a  parlor ;  and  as  the  overseers  and 
owners  took  pains  to  praise  those  who  showed 
great  care  in  the  appearance  of  their  looms  or 
apartments,  all  took  the  utmost  pride  in  keeping 
everything  about  them  clean  and  tidy.  Every 
person  in  the  shop  wished  the  kind-hearted  pro- 
prietors the  greatest  prosperity,  and  contributed 
much  toward  that  end  by  being  as  careful  as  possi- 
ble of  the  machinery,  wasting  no  oil,  no  cotton,  no 
yarn,  or  cloth.  I  do  not  think  that  money  could 
have  hired  one  of  the  girls  to  steal  a  yard  of  cloth 
or  a  "  cut "  of  yarn,  nor  would  the  men  be  seen  by 
each  other  idling  or  in  any  way  wasting  their  time. 
The  agent  was  a  friend  to  whom  all  went  for  ad- 
vice or  favors,  and  he  took  nearly  as  much  interest 
in  their  trials  and  joys  as  he  would  in  those  of  his 
children.  Although  there  were  rules  laid  down  by 
the  stockholders,  they  were  seldom  spoken  of  and 
never  transgressed.  New-comers  learned  them, 
and  were  always  too  happy  to  do  as  the  agent 
wished  to  think  of  breaking  the  by-laws.  Wealth 
seemed  to  roll  in  like  a  river,*  and  everybody  was 
7  j 


146  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

happy.  Cheerful  minds  made  healthy  bodies,  and 
glad  hearts  made  nimble  fingers,  while  the  clear 
consciences  of  the  owners  gave  a  double  value  to 
the  fortune  which  they  made.  In  fine,  it  was  the 
"  true  factory-system  "  of  which  America  then  had 
so  much  reason  to  be  proud. 

Fifteen  years  later  I  visited  that  factory  again 
But  the  changes  had  been  so  great  that  I  hesitated 
before  entering,  lest  I  had  made  a  mistake  in  the 
locality.  The  building  was  the  only  feature  which 
had  not  entirely  changed;  and  even  that  was 
marred,  stained,  and  broken,  with  rags  in  the  win- 
dows and  patches  on  the  doors.  The  yard  was 
strewn  with  lumber  and  rubbish,  with  here  and 
there  small  pools  of  stagnant  water,  while  drum- 
wheels,  gearing,  old  reeds,  and  refuse  cotton  almost 
choked  the  main  entrance.  The  condition  of  the 
factory  within  was  even  worse  than  it  was  without- 
The  stairs  were  unswept  and  dirty,  daubing  the 
skirts  of  the  visitor  with  oil,  verdigris,  and  lint  at 
almost  every  step.  The  ceilings  of  the  weaving- 
rooms  were  covered  with  dust  and  cobwebs,  the 
floor  was  strewn  with  pieces  of  yarn,  splinters,  and 
broken  bobbins,  while  the  looms  were  black  with 
grease,  and  bore  the  finger-prints  of  many  a  dirty 
hand  upon  the  painted  portions.  The  gearing  was 
thick  with  sticky,  dirt-mixed  oil,  and  grated  upon 
the  ear  like  the  filing  of  a  saw. 

The  laborers  completed  the  picture  of  careless- 


THESE  DEGENERATE  DAYS.        147 

ness  and  slovenliness,  and  were  ragged,  dirty, 
neglected,  and  ignorant.  Dirty  faces,  torn  dresses, 
uncombed  hair,  dull  eyes,  and  expressionless 
mouths  were  to  be  seen  everywhere.  If  threads 
broke  in  the  warping-machine,  the  gearing  was 
stopped  because  the  operative  lacked  the  intelli- 
gent skill  to  tie  it  while  the  machinery  was  in  mo- 
tion; if  the  shafting  squeaked  for  oil,  the  attendant 
did  not  seem  to  care,  or,  if  she  did  care,  could  not 
stop  to  oil  it,  owing  to  the  constant  attention  which 
the  management  of  so  many  looms  required  of  her. 
She  had  no  thought  but  of  wages,  and,  if  she 
would  earn  sufficient  to  meet  her  expenses,  she 
must  work  with  all  ,her  mind,  strength,  and  time. 
There  was  no  embroidery,  no  half-finished  socks, 
no  paper  flowers,  no  books,  no  spare  hands,  no 
play,  and  no  jokes  but  such  as  were  coarse  and 
pointless.  When  I  left  the  weaving-room  and  fol- 
lowed the  filthy  crowd  toward  the  door-way  of  the 
lower  floor,  I  was  surprised  to  see  each  operative 
called  into  a  room  adjoining  the  agent's  office,  from 
which  they  issued  with  a  pass  that  they  must  show 
to  the  sentry  at  the  door  before  they  went  out.  I 
was  only  the  more  astonished  when  I  learned  that 
no  operative  was  permitted  to  leave  the  building 
without  having  been  thoroughly  searched,  and  that 
the  laborers  were  all  of  them  "  notorious  thieves." 
On  inquiry  of  the  agent  I  ascertained  that  the  plan 
of  searching  had  succeeded  in  recovering  property 


148  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

amounting  to  many  thousand  dollars,  which  the 
girls  and  the  men  had  attempted  to  carry  away 
under  their  clothing. 

"  They  love  to  steal,"  said  he, "  and  I  have  caught 
them  carrying  away  old  iron,  oil,  and  even  waste, 
which  could  be  of  no  possible  use  to  them.  They 
have  such  a  devilish  desire  to  impoverish  the  com- 
pany that  they  throw  yarn,  cloth,  beams,  bobbins, 
paint,  and  cotton  out  of  the  window  into  the  river, 
and  I  believe  that,  did  we  not  keep  a  most  vigilant 
watch  in  every  room,  they  would  set  the  building 
on  fire." 

"  How  everything  has  changed  since  I  was  here ! " 
said  I. 

"  Yes,  it  has  changed.  Factory  operatives  are 
not  what  they  used  to  be,"  said  he. 

"  Could  you  not  get  a  better  class  of  laborers  by 
paying  more  wages  ? "  inquired  I. 

"  Perhaps,"  answered  he  ;  "  but  the  company  can- 
not afford  to  pay  more  wages,  for  they  are  losing 
money  now  !  " 

So  they  were  losing  money,  and  about  a  year 
from  that  time  failed,  deeply  indebted  to  the  em- 
ployees, and  having  so  small  an  amount  of  property 
compared  with  their  liabilities  that  they  paid  but 
twenty  cents  on  a  dollar,  while  other  factories 
were  making  the  owners  rich.  At  the  creditors' 
meeting  the  following  facts  came  to  light:  the 
original  owners  had  died,  leaving  the  property  to 


MODEKN   OWNEKS.  149 

the  care  of  their  sons  ;  and  these  new  proprietors, 
having  none  of  the  liberal  spirit  which  charac- 
terized their  predecessors,  undertook  to  introduce 
"cheap  labor."  They  employed  those  persons — 
many  were  imported  for  that  purpose  —  who  could 
be  hired  at  a  low  rate ;  which,  of  course,  introduced 
such  a  vile  class  that  it  drove  out  all  who  laid 
claims  to  respectability. 

Hoping  to  enrich  themselves  faster  than  their 
fathers  had  done,  they  killed  the  goose  which  laid 
the  golden  eggs,  by  discharging  spare  hands,  paying 
no  attention  to  the  cleanliness  of  the  building, 
neglecting  the  boarding-houses,  and  concentrating 
their  entire  energies  on  the  present  dollar,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  fortunes  that  lay  but  a  short  distance 
away.  No  operative  ever  saw  the  proprietors  in 
the  factory ;  and  as  nobody  took  any  interest  in  the 
working-people's  affairs,  they  had  no  interest  in  the 
prosperity  of  other  people.  A  mutual  ill-will  and 
a  social  warfare  were  the  results,  in  which,  as  must 
ever  be  the  case,  the  operatives  were  the  victors ; 
in  a  campaign,  however,  that  brought  them  no 
honor,  no  pleasure,  and  no  gain. 


CHAPTEE    X. 

HOW  COTTON  IS  MANUFACTURED.  —  FACTOEY  FRIEND- 
SHIPS. 

Brotherly  Affection.  —  The  Destitute  Wife. —  The  Widow's 
Trial.  —  The  Country  Girl  and  the  Actress.  —  Drunken 
Pickard  and  Bob. 

I. 

IN  order  that  the  reader  may  be  able  to  under- 
stand the  terms  which  I  shall  be  obliged  to 
use  in  the  chapters  that  follow,  a  few  words 
may  be  necessary  in  explanation  of  the  processes 
through  which  the  cotton  passes  while  being  man- 
ufactured into  cloth.  The  cotton  when  taken  from 
the  bale  is  passed  through  a  machine,  usually 
placed  in  the  basement  of  the  factory,  which  picks 
and  combs  out  the  sticks,  seeds,  and  hard  lumps, 
leaving  only  the  light,  feathery  cotton.  This  ma- 
chine is  called  a  "  picker."  Then  the  cotton  passes 
into  another  apparatus  near  by,  which  draws  it 
from  the  pile  into  a  long  straight  roll,  without 
twist  or  strength.  This  machine  is  called  a  "  draw- 
er." From  the  drawer  the  roll  passes  into  the 


CLOTH  MANUFACTURE.  151 

"  speeder,"  when  it  is  pressed  into  a  smaller  size 
and  slightly  twisted.  The  cotton  is  then  called 
"roping,"  and  is  wound  upon  great  spools,  as  it 
comes  from  the  speeder.  The  spools  of  roping 
are  taken  to  the  spinning-room,  where,  by  means 
of  rollers  to  press  and  flyers  to  twist,  it  is  reduced 
to  thread.  The  thread  which,  as  it  comes  from 
the  spindles,  is  wound  by  machinery  upon  small 
spools  called  "  bobbins,"  is  very  fine,  and  is  known 
in  the  factories  as  "  the  warp."  From  a  large  num- 
ber of  these  small  spools,  which  are  placed  near 
together,  in  a  large  frame,  the  threads  are  wound 
upon  a  very  large  spool  called  a  "  warping-beam." 
The  warping-beams,  when  full  of  thread,  are  taken 
to  the  "dressing-machine,"  where  the  threads,  a 
great  number  at  a  time,  pass  from  the  warping- 
beam  over  a  roller  that  turns  in  a  trough  of  stajch, 
then  under  a  series  of  constantly  moving  brushes 
which  equalize  the  starch  and  brush  away  lint  or 
any  foreign  substance  that  may  be  adhering  to  the 
thread.  From  the  brushes  it  passes  over  a  large 
heated  copper  roller  which  dries  the  starch ;  and 
then  is  wound  upon  another  enormous  spool  called 
a  "  web-beam."  These  great  web-beams  are  then 
put  upon  a  "  drawing-in  frame,"  where  an  operator 
draws  every  end  —  and  there  may  be  thousands  — 
through  a  "  reed,"  in  which  there  is  a  little  aper- 
ture for  each  thread.  These  reeds  are  parts  of  the 
"  loom,"  and  keep  the  threads  separate  when  the 


152  NATURE'S  AKISTOCRACY. 

machinery  is  in  motion;  and,  together  -with  the 
web-beams,  are  placed  in  the  looms  whenever  they 
are  required  for  weaving.  From  the  looms  in 
which  the  threads  that  wind  from  the  web-beams 
through  the  reeds  combine  with  the  threads  which 
braid  in  from  the  "  shuttle,"  the  "  cloth  "  is  taken, 
which,  after  inspection,  is  packed  for  market. 

Should  the  manufacturer  wish  to  make  calico, 
the  cloth  is  put  through  a  chemical  process  called 
"  bleaching,"  and  taken  to  the  print-works.  Calico 
"  printing  "  is  done  by  passing  the  cloth  under  an 
engraved  roller  which  is  so  ingeniously  supplied 
with  dyes  that  it  prints  all  the  different  colors  and 
figures  at  the  same  time.  Until  the  recent  inven- 
tion of  roller-printing  it  required  the  greatest  skill 
to  dye  calico ;  and  it  was  never  sold  for  less  than 
fifty  cents  per  yard.  Then  there  was  a  different 
stamp  for  every  figure,  and  the  workman  was 
obliged  to  dip  each  stamp  in  the  color  and  strike 
it  with  a  mallet  when  placed  on  the  cloth.  Hence 
it  was  a  slow  and  expensive  process.  Xow  it  is 
so  rapidly  done  by  machinery  that  the  cost  is 
reduced  a  hundred-fold,  while  the  only  great  skill 
required  is  in  mixing  the  colors. 

II. 

ALL  the  different  processes  of  cotton  manufac- 
ture have  their  divisions  and  subdivisions,  each 


MILL  FEIENDSHIPS.  153 

of  which  requires  the  attention  of  intelligent 
laborers;  consequently  there  is  in  nearly  every 
factory  a  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  same 
room  who,  as  they  are  constantly  in  one  another's 
society,  become  intimately  acquainted  with  each 
other's  manners  and  disposition.  This  leads  to  the 
formation  of  friendships  and  associations,  many 
of -which  are  as  sincere  and  lasting  as  any  of  earth. 
The  circumstances  which  surround  their  individual 
lives,  and  the  hardships  which  they  endure  to- 
gether, have  a  great  effect  upon  these  friendships. 
Like  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  the  sailors  on  the 
sea,  the  travellers  far  from  home  and  country,  they 
are  deeper  and  stronger  in  proportion  to  the  dan- 
ger and  suffering  which  they  see.  So  that  out  of 
oppression  may  spring  some  sweet  fruits,  and  in 
the  factories  where  the  operatives  have  the  least 
privileges  and  the  lowest  wages  there  may  be  a 
slight  compensation  in  the  attachments  which  are 
formed  among -the  operatives  for  each  other. 

Again  we  will  say  that  it  is  not  the  object  of 
this  book  to  sound  the  praises  or  advocate  the 
cause  of  those  who,  like  Burritt,  Franklin,  Lincoln, 
and  Banks,  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  posi- 
tion for  which  nature  designed  them ;  nor  to  repeat 
the  old  stories  of  their  friendships  in  low  life  and 
generosity  in  high  life.  "We  speak  for  the  defeated 
ones,  about  whom  the  world  has  heard  but  little 
and  cared  less.  The  factories  of  New  England 

7* 


154  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

have  teemed  with  philosophers  and  statesmen 
who  have  toiled  year  after  year  in  obscurity,  not 
that  an  "occasion  never  called  for  them,"  but 
because  an  opportunity  was  never  given  them. 
Somebody  has  said  that  "  circumstances  do  not 
make  men,  but  men  make  circumstances,"  and  it 
is  one  of  the  truest  sayings  ever  recorded ;  but, 
unfortunately,  it  often  happens  that  the  men  who 
make  the  circumstance  are  not  the  men  to  be 
affected  by  it.  And  the  factory  operative,  how- 
ever gifted  and  good,  belongs  to  one  of  the  classes 
for  which  other  men  make  the  circumstances. 
That  they  make  the  most  of  their  opportunities  is 
proved  by  the  attachments  they  form  and  the 
ability  they  exhibit  in  the  station  to  which  they 
are  confined. 

As  a  person  without  enemies  may  be  considered 
a  nonentity  or  a  fool,  so  a  person  with  no  friends 
may  be  counted  as  a  very  bad  individual.  But 
the  true  test  of  nobleness  has  ever  been  in  the 
possession  of  a  few  friends  and  loving  them  with 
all  the  heart.  Such  has  been  the  characteristics 
of  all  great  heroes ;  and,  applying  that  standard  to 
the  factory  operatives,  we  find  many  who  show 
themselves  worthy  of  the  title  which  I  claim  for 
them. 

In  1854  there  were  two  young  men  at  work 
together  in  a  factory  at  Chicopee,  Mass.,  between 
whom  there  was  a  most  marked  intimacy.  Their 


THE  TWO  FRIENDS.  155 

•work  brought  them  often  together  during  the  day, 
and  they  occupied  the  same  room  at  the  boarding- 
house.  They  were  seen  so  often  together,  and 
dressed  so  nearly  alike,  that  the  citizens  of  the 
town  believed  them  to  be  brothers,  —  caring  for 
each  other  when  sick,  one  taking  the  work  of  both 
when  the  other  was  obliged  to  be  absent.  It  hap- 
pened that  the  youngest,  whose  name  was  Mortley, 
one  day  was  adjusting  a  belt  while  his  companion, 
"Wesley,  was  standing  near.  The  belt  ran  upon 
the  pulley  quicker  than  Mortley  anticipated,  and 
caught  his  hand  under  it  as  it  started  around  the 
pulley.  "Wesley  saw  the  danger,  and,  knowing  that 
a  moment's  delay  would  draw  Mortley 's  whole  arm 
and  perhaps  his  body  into  the  gearing,  leaped  upon 
the  pulley,  and,  thrusting  his  foot  against  the  belt, 
threw  it  off  before  the  pulley  had  half  completed 
the  first  revolution.  But  neither  escaped  without 
injury,  for  the  forefinger  of  Mortley's  right  hand 
was  crushed,  and  Wesley's  right  ankle  thrown  out 
of  joint.  Neither  ever  completely  recovered,  and 
ever  after  the  limp  of  the  one  and  the  crushed  fin- 
ger of  the  other  were  mutually  considered  to  be 
"  bonds  of  friendship."  In  1855  they  married  sis- 
ters, and  began  keeping  house  in  the  same  tene- 
ment. But  soon  after  Wesley  moved  to  Meriden, 
Conn.,  and  Mortley  took  up  his  residence  in  Hoi- 
yoke,  Mass.  In  1861  Wesley  died,  leaving  a  wife 
and  two  children  with  no  property  but  a  little 


156  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

house  in  the  suburbs  of  Meriden.  The  widow 
was  in  delicate  health,  and  could  do  nothing 
toward  the  support  of  herself  or  children,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  town  authorities  for  assistance.  Those 
officials  refused  to  consider  her  as  a  pauper,  or  treat 
her  as  if  entitled  to  any  assistance  so  long  as  she 
owned  a  house ;  and  the  woman  in  her  despair  ad- 
vertised her  house  to  be  for  sale.  A  few  days  be- 
fore the  day  set  for  the  sale  she  received  an  anony- 
mous letter,  which  said  that  "  a  poor  debtor  of  her 
husband's  "  would  try  to  pay  off  his  debt  in  small 
instalments,  to  be  found  on  the  first  of  every  month 
at  a  certain  bank.  The  writer  closed  his  letter, 
after  bidding  her  to  be  of  good  cheer,  with  the  re- 
mark that  he  "  dare  not  tell  how  much  "  he  owed 
Mr.  Wesley,  but  it  would  "  last  her  a  long  time." 
The  widow,  finding  the  first  instalment  already  de- 
posited, and  unable  to  obtain  from  the  bank  the 
name  of  the  depositor,  did  not  sell  her  house, 
but  managed  to  live  comfortably  upon  the  twenty 
dollars  per  month  which  the  unknown  debtor  sup- 
plied. For  seven  years  the  money  was  always 
ready  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  and  the  widow 
had  begun  to  wonder  how  it  was  possible  for  a  per- 
son to  owe  her  husband  so  much,  when  she  heard 
that  Mortley  had  been  killed  by  a  boiler  explosion 
at  Rutland,  Vt.  On  going  to  the  bank  on  the 
following  pay-day  she  found  no  money,  and,  as 
the  banker  said  that  the  giver  was  dead,  she  felt 


SISTERS  IN  MISFORTUNE.  157 

assured  that  Mortley  had  all  that  time  been  divid- 
ing his  hard-earned  wages  equally  between  her  and 
his  own  family.  She  subsequently  learned  from 
her  sister  that  Mortley  had  adopted  that  plan 
because  he  feared  she  would  not  accept  it  if  she 
knew  who  was  the  giver. 

III. 

IN  the  town  of  Holyoke,  Mass.,  there  are  two 
factory-girls,  whose  sisterly  regard  for  each  other 
has  often  been  'the  subject  of  remark,  and  whose 
conduct  in  life  has  ever  been  the  most  exemplary. 
Having  had  my  attention  called  to  the  fact,  I  made 
inquiries  about  them,  to  ascertain  if  there  had  been 
any  particular  cause  for  their  affectionate  behavior, 
and  their  sad  history  was  related  to  me  as  follows  : 
In  1862  they  were  boarding  together,  and  were 
working  side  by  side  in  the  same  room,  when  they 
were  wooed  and  won  in  marriage  by  two  young 
men  who  were  equally  intimate  with  each  other. 
Both  of  the  girls  were  married  at  the  same  time, 
their  husbands  enlisted  in  the  same  regiment,  and 
were  both  killed  in  the  same  battle.*  Meantime 
both  of  the  girls  bore  a  son,  and  during  the  days 
when  they  were  obliged  to  enter  the  shop  they 
hired  the  same  nurse  to  care  for  both  of  the  boys. 
Four  years  of  hardship  and  the  greatest  suffering 

*  Holyoke  Transcript. 


158  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

cemented  their  friendship,  and  increased  their  love 
for  each  other.  But  the  trials  which  they  had 
seen  were  light  compared  with  the  one  in  store  for 
them.  When  the  boys  were  five  years  of  age,  they 
were  counted  as  the  brightest  scholars  in  the  be- 
ginners' class  at  school,  were  clothed  in  the  neatT 
est  style,  and  made  to  attend  the  school  exer- 
cises with  the  greatest  regularity.  It  happened 
that  one  afternoon,  when  there  was  no  school,  the 
mothers  were  too  busy  in  the  mill  to  care  for  their 
little  boys,  so  they  sent  them  out  into  the  yard  to 
play,  and  directed  them  to  keep  within  sight. 
This  command  the  boys  fully  obeyed;  and  hour 
after  hour  passed  with  the  children  running,  jump- 
ing, and  ball-playing,  while  the  proud  mothers 
looked  on  and  were  happy.  But  when  the  boys 
had  become  tired  of  every  other  amusement,  they 
placed  a  slab  across  a  log  which  lay  near  the  canal, 
for  the  purpose  of  playing  "  teter."  The  mothers 
saw  the  preparations,  and  would  have  run  down  to 
the  yard  to  prevent  the  trial  of  so  dangerous  an 
experiment,  but  the  looms  must  not  be  stopped,  and 
their  presence  was  every  moment  necessary.  Soon 
they  saw  the  boys  mount  the  slab,  one  upon  each 
end,  and  attempt  to  balance  each  other.  The  slab 
was  near  the  end  of  the  log,  and  at  the  second 
attempt  of  the  boys  to  "  teter "  it  swung  from  the 
pivot,  and  both  were  instantly  thrown  into  the 
canal  The  mothers  rushed  down  the  four  flights 


THE  ACTRESS  AND  HER  FRIEND.  159 

of  stairs  with  their  utmost  speed,  but  when  they 
arrived  at  the  spot  both  of  the  little  boys  were 
dead. 

IV. 

MALINDA  had  been  an  actress,  and  had  been  the 
recipient  of  praises,  encores,  and  bouquets  while  play- 
ing with  Booth,  Cushman,  Costar,  and  many  other 
notables  in  the  theatrical  world.  But  she  became 
too  corpulent  to  appear  at  advantage  in  any  part  but 
that  of  "  heavy  old  woman,"  and  after  a  while  lost 
that  by  contracting  very  intemperate  habits.  She 
had  no  relatives,  no  friends,  and  was  in  a  destitute 
condition,  when,  after  several  utter  failures,  she 
abandoned  the  hope  of  ever  going  upon  the  stage 
again.  Too  proud  to  beg  or  apply  for  public  chari- 
ty, she  attempted  to  find  some  kind  of  employment, 
and  at  last  found  her  way  into  the  Pemberton  Mill 
at  Lawrence.  She  was  unacquainted  with  any 
kind  of  work.  Her  fingers,  that  had  been  trained 
for  throwing  kisses  and  holding  the  gauze  of  a 
dance-dress,  were  too  soft  for  the  loom,  and  her  tiny 
feet,  which  had  been  shaped  and  trained  for  the 
footlights,  were  unable  to  hold  up  her  heavy  body 
for  six  long  hours,  with  little  or  no  change  of  po- 
sition. But  it  happened  that  a  little  girl  by  the 
name  of  Ann  had  charge  of  the  looms  next  to  those 
which  the  actress  had  been  hired  to  superintend, 
and  she  noticed  the  awkwardness  and  the  discon- 


160  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

solate  expression  which  accompanied  the  actress  in 
everything  she  undertook.  The  little  lady,  regard- 
less of  the  bad  reputation  of  the  actress,  undertook 
to  teach  and  assist  her  in  the  management  of  the 
looms.*  It  had  been  so  long  since  a  kind  word  had 
been  spoken  to  her  or  a  kind  act  done  for  her  that 
the  actress  formed  at  once  a  most  sincere  attach- 
ment for  the  innocent  country-girl,  who  so  gener- 
ously came  to  her  assistance.  They  would  converse 
together  through  the  evenings,  — Ann  telling  about 
the  rural  attractions  of  her  country  home,  and  the 
actress  in  turn  describing  the  stage,  the  players, 
the  music,  the  scenery,  and  the  whims  of  the  audi- 
ences. Thus  a  year  passed  away,  and  the  actress, 
who  entered  the  mill  a  coarse,  vulgar,  and  reckless 
woman,  had  become,  under  the  influence  of  lit- 
tle Ann,  an  affectionate,  quiet,  well-behaved  lady. 
Upon  Ann  the  actress  poured  out  her  whole  soul. 
Ann  was  all  the  friend  whom  she  had,  and  to  her 
she  clung  with  the  most  ardent  fondness ;  while  the 
actress  was  to  Ann  a  subject  of  pity  for  her  misfor- 
tunes and  of  respect  for  her  great  experience. 

On  the  morning  of  the  llth  of  January,  1860, 
Ann  and  the  actress  entered  the  mill  together.  At 
the  door-way  they  paused  a  few  moments  to  watch 
the  crowd  of  operatives  as  they  came  toward  the 
mill.  The  actress  was  quite  dejected  because  Ann 
had  declared  her  intention  of  taking  a  vacation, 

*  Every  new  hand  must  have  a  "  teacher." 


BEFORE  THE   CATASTROPHE.  161 

and,  perhaps,  of  leaving  the  mill  altogether.  The 
former  was  remonstrating  with  Ann,  and  as  they 
turned  to  ascend  the  stairway,  caught  her  arm  and 
said,  "Ann,  I  don't  feel  like  working  to-day,  and  if 
you  go  away  I  shall  never  feel  like  it  again." 

"  I  'm  of  no  consequence/'  said  Ann,  laughing ; 
"  you  will  do  just  as  well  without  me." 

"  I  tell  you,  dear  Ann,"  exclaimed  the  excited 
actress,  "  if  you  leave  this  mill,  we  part ;  and  part- 
ing with  you,  the  only  being  I  have  to  love  or 
care  for,  means  death." 

Ann  laughed,  and  said  she  thought  the  actress 
was  getting  "  tragical." 

"  So  I  am,"  said  the  disconsolate  one,  — "  so  I 
am ;  and  I  tell  you  that  this  river,  which  has  floated 
so  many,  may  float  another  if  you  leave  me." 

As  they  entered  the  hall  leading  to  the  weaving 
apartments  three  girls  passed  them,  laughing,  jok- 
ing, and  pulling  each  other. 

"  Do  you  suppose,"  said  the  actress,  "  that  those 
girls,  who  think  so  much  of  each  other's  society, 
really  love  as  you  and  I  have  loved  ? " 

"0  yes,"  said  Ann;  "and  perhaps  better;  we  can- 
not tell  about  others'  friendship  or  love,  you  know.'' 

The  bell  began  its  toll ;  the  steam  began  to  hiss, 
and  the  water  to  swash  in  the  basement ;  the  belts 
began  to  move,  and  the  flyers  to  rattle ;  while 
picker,  drawer,  speeder,  spinner,  warper,  and  loom 
began  at  the  same  instant  to  pick  the  cotton,  make 


162  NATURE'S  ARISTOCKACY. 

the  rolls,  twist  the  roping,  spin  the  thread,  and 
weave  the  cloth  for  another  day's  production. 

Noon  came,  with  the  clamoring  bells,  the  usual 
crowd,  the  hurried  meal,  and  the  hasty  return ;  and 
many  hearts  thanked  God  that  they  were  on  the 
last  half  of  another  wearisome  day.  Three  o'clock 
came,  —  the  afternoon  was  one  half  spent,  —  and 
the  anxious  operatives  noted  the  hour  and  minute 
hands,  and  said,  "  Only  three  hours  more." 

Four  o'clock  came  ;  the  voices  of  the  girls  were 
still ;  they  were  now  too  tired  for  conversation,  and 
even  the  overseer  gave  his  orders  in  a  low  tone,  for 
he,  too,  was  getting  exhausted.  But  the  great,  rest- 
less, and  exhaustless  machinery  rattled  over  the 
head  of  the  actress,  roared  in  the  stories  below  her, 
while  the  whole  building  trembled  and  waved  be- 
neath its  ponderous  load  of  lifelike  mechanism. 
She  was  thinking  of  Ann,  and  wondering  if  the 
time  ever  would  come  when  they  must  part,  and 
had  stopped  her  loom  to  mend  the  thread,  when 
the  great  building  seemed  to  be  seized  with  a 
sudden  tremor.  The  windows  rattled,  the  floor 
creaked,  the  walls  cracked,  the  great  looms  rocked 
to  and  fro,  and  a  wild  shriek,  mingled  with  dull, 
jarring  thumps,  echoed  through  and  through  the 
writhing  building.  One  glance,  —  and  only  one, 
—  which  showed  the  girls  flying  wildly  in  every 
direction,  —  some  out  at  the  windows,  hundreds 
toward  the  stairway,  and  others  for  the  elevator, — 


FALL  OF  THE  PEMBERTON  MILL.  163 

while  the  shafting  fell  from  its  bearings,  the  belts 
flew  from  the  pulleys,  the  great  piles  of  web-beams 
came  tumbling  down,  the  landscape  through  the 
windows  seemed  swinging,  sliding,  and  falling  with 
a  dizzy,  sickening  motion ;  and  with  one  awful 
crash,  that  echoed  through  the  streets,  and  re-ech- 
oed from  the  distant  hills,  the  great  five-story  Pem- 
berton  Mill,  with  all  its  freight  of  life,  crumbled  and 
crashed  into  a  distorted  heap  of  ruins.  O  that 
terrible,  terrible  scene !  Who  can  ever  efface  it 
from  memory  that  looked,  though  but  an  instant, 
upon  that  sickening  mass  ?  Great  timbers  broken 
and  splintered,  piles  of  shattered  brick  and  mortar, 
crooked  pieces  of  shafting,  ponderous  wheels,  and 
under,  in,  over,  and  through  all  were  writhing, 
maimed,  shattered,  and  bleeding  human  beings. 
The  great  chimneys,  which  stood  as  grim  spectators, 
looked  coldly  down  upon  that  pile  where  heads, 
arms,  and  legs  were  protruding,  and  through  which 
the  streams  of  human  gore  gurgled  and  bubbled, 
drowning  some  that  had  not  perished  by  the  fall,  and 
changing  the  color  of  the  water  far  below  the  ruin. 
And  the  cries  !  How  it  appalled  the  stoutest, 
and  chilled  the  most  hardened  !  The  air  was  reso- 
nant with  human  misery,  and  carried  a  dull  sense 
of  the  fearful  disaster  to  the  hearts  of  men  for  miles 
around,  long  before  they  knew  what  had  occurred, 
or  learned  by  human  testimony  that  anything  un- 
usual had  happened.  The  great  city,  together  with 


164  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

all  who  were  within  hearing  distance,  seemed  pal- 
sied with  fear,  and  when  the  earth  had  ceased  to 
tremble,  and  the  reverberations  died  away,  men 
whispered  one  to  the  other,  with  pale  faces, "  Some- 
thing awful  has  happened." 

Then  came  the  crowd  of  mothers,  fathers,  sisters, 
brothers,  relatives,  and  friends,  to  join  in  the  cho- 
rus of  shrieks,  groans,  cries,  and  choking  sobs  that 
came  unceasingly  from  the  unseemly  heap.  Men, 
women,  and  children,  inspired  with  supernatural 
strength,  tugged  away  at  timbers,  shafting,  and  rub- 
bish, searching  and  calling  for  loved  ones.  Some 
few  of  the  victims  lay  near  the  surface,  held  only  by 
an  arm,  a  foot,  or  a  finger,  and  from  them  were  the 
timbers  quickly  lifted,  and  one  after  another  they 
came  bleeding  from  the  wreck.  Night  came  quick- 
ly on,  but  it  saw  no  cessation  in  the  work ;  neither 
were  the  awful  cries  abated.  Then,  with  a  great 
bonfire  that  shimmered  on  the  great  canal  and 
cast  a  lurid  gleam  over  the  gory  pile,  the  workmen 
worked  nobly  on.  Lifting  a  great  timber  to  release 
a  man  who  was  crying  for  help,  four  mangled  and 
dripping  bodies  were  discovered,  which  were  carried 
through  the  shuddering  crowds  to  the  hall  As  the 
hours  fled  the  number  of  workmen  increased.  Ex- 
tra trains  brought  in  the  firemen  and  volunteers 
from  other  cities  ;  the  alarm-bells  called  in  the  far- 
mers, and  the  long  ruin,  which  covered  an  acre 
of  ground,  was  teeming  with  zealous  workmen. 


THE  WRECK.  165 

Headless,  armless,  crushed,  torn,  and  dissevered 
bodies,  soaking  in  blood,  were  drawn  out  to  get  at 
the  living,  whose  cries  could  be  heard  far,  far  down 
beneath  the  rubbish.  Fainting  ones,  slashed  and 
mangled  ones,  living  and  dying  ones,  came  swiftly 
by  on  the  shoulders  of  stout  men,  while  the  wild 
and  frenzied  assembly  of  relatives  shouldered, 
crowded,  and  fought  for  a  glimpse  of  each  bleeding 
mass,  to  know  if  it  were  the  body  of  their  beloved. 

Among  the  great  throng  of  workers,  whose  dis- 
regard of  danger  and  contempt  for  arduous  under- 
takings was  marvellous,  could  be  seen  the  actress, 
flying  hither  and  thither,  treading  upon  uncertain 
timbers,  leaping  over  grim  chasms,  and  lifting 
weights  that  would  in  calmer  times  have  defied 
a  person  possessing  double  her  strength ;  crying 
in  the  bitterness  of  her  woe  for  her  companion  and 
friend. 

Though  she  stayed  and  worked  until  daylight, 
ay,  until  noon  came,  and  night  again,  yet  no 
answer  came  to  her  cries,  no  word  from  Ann's 
familiar  lips.  The  three  girls  whose  friendship 
she  had  doubted  were  found  dead  in  each  other's 
arms,  but  they  were  so  interlocked  with  the  tim- 
bers that  they  could  not  be  extricated.  "  Truly," 
thought  she,  "they  were  friends  in  life,  and  in 
death  they  were  not  divided." 

Fire  !  Fire !  How  I  shudder  now  when  I  recall 
the  terrible  import  of  those  words,  as  the  cry  went 


166  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

up  and  the  ascending  smoke  convinced  the  horror- 
struck  spectators  that  the  ruin  was  in  flames.  The 
heart  stopped  its  beating  at  the  sound,  and  soul- 
breaking  despair  took  the  place  of  awe  and  sorrow. 
A  pile  of  human  beings  burning  alive,  and  so  near 
that  their  voices  could  be  distinctly  heard,  while 
some  were  within  easy  reach.  Some  had  been 
given  food  and  drink,  and  led  to  hope  for  speedy 
deliverance.  But  the  appearance  of  that  flame 
dashed  all  hope.  Some  of  the  victims  far  down  in 
the  wreck,  thinking  that  they  must  burn,  cut  their 
throats  or  stabbed  themselves,  others  yelled  and 
writhed  in  their  despair.  One  party  who  seemed 
to  have  fallen  together  and  to  have  some  little 
room  faced  the  fate  that  awaited  them,  and  with 
Christian  resignation  began,  amid  groans  and 
shrieks,  to  sing  that  well-known  hymn:  — 

"  My  Father's  house  is  built  on  high, 
Far,  far  above  the  starry  sky; 
When  from  this  earthly  prison  free, 
That  heavenly  mansion  mine  shall  be. 
I  'm  going  home,  I  'm  going  home, 
I  'm  going  home,  to  die  no  more." 

At  last  the  lifeless  form  of  poor  Ann  was  ex- 
humed from  the  ruins,  and  the  actress,  frantic 
with  grief,  moaned  over  it,  and  called  on  her  to 
come  back  with  most  touching  appeals  to  the  un- 
heeding body. 

Meantime  the  fire  spread  on  in  the  ruins,  lap- 


BROKEN-HEARTED.  167 

ping  up  the  dead  and  alive  alike,  while  the  fire- 
department  poured  on  water  and  dug  at  the  pile 
with  superhuman  endeavors ;  and  after  two  days 
and  two  nights  of  toil  the  thousands  of  laborers 
were  obliged  to  give  way  before  the  fire,  and  such 
as  still  remained  in  the  mountainous  ruin  were 
consumed  to  ashes.  The  cries  which  had  been 
growing  weaker  and  weaker  were  at  last  drowned 
by  the  hissing  and  roaring  of  the  terrible  fire ;  and 
a  cragged,  blackened  wreck  of  iron  and  brick  was 
all  that  remained  of  the  great  cotton-factory 
which,  by  the  adoption  of  a  criminally  short- 
sighted policy,  was  lightly  and  weakly  constructed 
by  cheap  labor. 

The  actress,  whose  life  had  been  so  much  cheered 
and  elevated  in  little  Ann's  society,  sank  at  once 
into  melancholy,  and  after  a  short  and  aimless 
existence  followed  her  little  friend  to  the  grave, 
giving  a  striking  example  of  the  elevation  of  a 
fallen  one  by  factory  associations,  and  of  the 
maxim  that  "  none  love  truly  who  act  not  nobly." 

The  general  opinion  in  the  non-manufacturing 
communities  seems  to  be  that  factory  associations 
are  degrading,  and  that  it  is  dangerous  to  trust  a 
woman  within  the  walls  of  such  an  establishment. 
It  may  be  more  so  now  than  it  used  to  be,  because 
so  few  can  live  respectably  if  dependent  entirely 
upon  the  wages  they  receive.  Yet  I  not  only 
claim  that,  with  the  exception  of  those  traitorous 


168  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

establishments  which  import  their  help,  there  is 
little  or  no  cause  for  the  present  opinion  with  re- 
gard to  the  class  of  working-women ;  but  that  very 
many  more  are  raised  from  fallen  wretches  into 
true  womanhood  by  the  elevating  friendships 
which  they  form  than  fall  into  wickedness  from 
the  same  cause. 

V. 

ONE  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  that  ever 
came  to  my  notice  where  a  factory  friendship  called 
out  the  best  traits  of  human  character,  occurred 
in  Pawtucket,  E,  I.  An  old  man,  who  had  never 
been  married,  and  whose  friends  had  all  forsaken 
him  on  account  of  his  excessive  intemperance,  was 
employed  in  the  warping-room  to  lift  the  large 
heavy  beams  of  yarn  as  they  were  filled  from  the 
bobbins,  and  carry  them  to  the  elevator.  He  had 
been  there  many  years,  and  as  he  was  an  excel- 
lent shop-hand  when  sober,  the  overseers  secured 
some  one  to  fill  his  place  when  he  was  intoxi- 
cated, who  gave  it  up  without  question  when  the 
drunkard  returned.  The  old  man  prided  himself 
in  the  name  of  "  Drunken  Pickard,"  and  was  usu- 
ally addressed  by  that  name  whenever  his  room- 
mates or  associates  wished  to  speak  with  him.  In 
1858  there  came  a  boy  about  fifteen  years  old,  who 
was  engaged  as  a  "bobbin-boy,"  and  who,  like 
Drunken  Pickard,  had  no  living  relatives  who 


TRUE  FRIENDSHIP.  169 

would  recognize  him.  He  was  an  orphan;  and 
found  his  way  into  the  factory  from  a  country 
poorhouse.  He  was  soon  known  among  the  oper- 
atives as  "little  Bob,"  and  by  his  sprightly  and 
graceful  manners  won  the  respect  of  all  wh'o 
knew  him.  Drunken  Pickard  became  especially 
attached  to  him  after  hearing  that  he  had  no 
friends  and  no  home;  for,  to  one  in  Pickard's 
circumstances,  those  were  just  the  characteristics 
to  call  out  sympathy  and  love. 

Drunken  Pickard  and  little  Bob  became  fast 
friends ;  although  Pickard  was  over  thirty  years 
older  than  Bob.  Pickard  told  Bob  all  about  his 
"sprees,"  and  Bob  told  Pickard  about  his  life 
in  the  poorhouse.  Each  was  the  other's  com- 
panion when  occasion  required,  and  several  times 
Bob  was  rather  roughly  used  by  some  of  Pickard's 
intoxicated  companions  while  trying  to  help  him 
home  at  night. 

One  day  there  was  a  political  meeting  at  Paw- 
tucket,  and  Pickard  happened  to  be  present  when 
the  speeches  were  made.  He  did  not  seem  to  be 
favorably  impressed  with  the  eloquence  displayed 
on  that  occasion,  and  when,  according  to  his  usual 
custom,  he  related  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  to 
Bob,  he  remarked  that  he  would  be  ashamed  of 
Bob  if  he  "could  not  on  occasion  make  a  better 
speech  than  that."  Bob  said  that  he  wished  he 
were  a  public  speaker,  and  told  Pickard  about  a  little 


170  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

piece  of  poetry  which  he  was  taught  to  declaim 
when  quite  small.  Pickard  suggested  the  idea 
of  Boh's  attempting  to  make  a  speech,  but  Bob 
pleaded  that  none  but  educated  people  could  make 
political  speeches.  The  conversation  led  from  one 
idea  to  another,  until  Pickard  proposed  that  Bob 
should  attend  school,  and  "  edicate  "  himself  for  a 
public  speaker,  while  Pickard  should  work  in  the 
factory,  and  "  pay  the  bills." 

"  I  'm  gettin'  old,"  said  Pickard,  "  and  can't  last 
very  long.  But  now  I  can  earn  enough  to  support 
us  both ;  so  you  get  your  larnin',  and  by  that  time 
you  can  earn  money  like  all  the  big-bugs,  and  you 
can  turn  around  then  and  take  care  o'  me." 

Bob  fell  in  with  the  proposition,  and,  having 
purchased  an  outfit  from  his  own  earnings,  took 
the  advice  of  a  resident  pastor,  who  wished  him 
to  attend  school  in  Middletown,  Conn.  Three 
years  passed  away,  during  which  time  Bob  was 
well  supplied  with  funds,  paid  close  attention  to 
his  studies,  and  had  shown  a  most  astonishing 
proficiency.  So  great  was  his  improvement  that, 
notwithstanding  the  defects  in  his  early  education, 
he  was  nearly  equal,  in  the  common  branches  of 
education,  to  other  young  men  of  his  age.  But 
he  enlisted  in  a  Connecticut  regiment,  in  1863, 
and  went  to  the  war,  having  first  obtained  the 
consent  of  Pickard.  He  was  wounded  in  a  skir- 
mish on  the  Potomac,  and,  being  discharged  in 


RECEIVING  ms  REWARD.  171 

1864  for  disability,  resumed  his  studies  again  at 
Middletown.  He  did  not  attempt  to  take  a  com- 
plete college  course,  but  went,  in  1867,  to  New 
Haven,  where  he  entered  the  Law  School. 

Meanwhile  Pickard  became  so  industrious  and 
sober  that  he  could  no  longer  lay  claim  to  the 
title  of  "Drunken  Pickard,"  and  his  whole  life 
was  devoted  to  Bob's  welfare.  To  send  the  greater 
part  of  his  wages  to  Bob,  and  to  get  the  letters 
which  the  latter  wrote  regularly  to  him,  were  the 
two  greatest  joys  of  his  life.  He  could  not  afford 
the  money  for  a  drink,  so  he  never  got  drunk; 
while  his  desire  to  increase  his  wages  —  which 
was  often  gratified  —  was  so  great  that  he  paid 
his  undivided  attention  to  it,  and  performed  what- 
ever extra  work  was  given  him  with  promptitude 
and  care. 

Bob  graduated,  and  has  begun  the  practice  of 
law  as  a  junior  partner  in  an  old  New  York  firm, 
and  declares  that  after  this  year  "  Uncle  Pickard  " 
shall  not  do  another  day's  work ;  while  the  old 
man,  somewhat  bowed  with  excessive  labor,  but 
the  healthier  for  his  temperate  habits,  declares 
himself  perfectly  satisfied  with  that  "good  old- 
fashioned  way  of  changi?uf  works." 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

AMONG  THE  "  STRIKEES." 

Character  of  "Strikers."  —  Homes  of  "Workmen. — Life  of  a 
Factory  Girl.  —  Of  Factory  Men.  —  Tailors'  and  Telegraph 
Strikes.  — The  "  Dover  Strike."  —  Incidents  of  Factory  Life, 
fee. 

I. 

IF  it  needed  any  argument  to  prove  what  is 
already  patent  to  the  most  careless  observer, 
namely,  that  the  working-classes  are  naturally  intel- 
ligent and  able,  nothing  would  be  more  forcible  than 
a  reference  to  the  "  strikes "  which  have  occurred 
among  the  operatives  in  New  England  within  the 
last  ten  years.  It  may  be  thought  that  because 
the  Chinese,  the  Jews,  the  Romans,  and  the  Gauls 
"  struck "  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  and  be- 
cause these  organized  attempts  of  laborers  to  raise 
their  wages  have  been  frequent  in  modern  times, 
that  it  is  a  very  simple  and  easy  thing  to  do.  But 
it  is  something  more  than  simply  refusing  to  work  ; 
and  in  these  days,  when  the  political  economy  of 
the  world  is  so  regulated  that  the  laborers  of  one 


CHARACTER  OF  "STRIKERS."  173 

locality  are  financially  interested  in  those  of  every 
other,  it  requires  courage,  perseverance,  honesty, 
and  fidelity,  —  courage  to  face  starvation,  for  the 
sake  of  justice  ;  perseverance  to  hold  out  until 
the  loss  of  money  —  often  the  only  avenue  to  a 
capitalist's  heart  —  compels  the  factory  princes 
to  do  justly ;  honest  in  the  desire  to  obtain  what 
is  their  due  and  nothing  more ;  fidelity  to  each 
other,  in  order  that  the  traitorous  behavior  of  a  few 
shall  not  defeat  the  purpose  of  the  many. 

That  the  operatives  have  often  shown  all  those 
characteristics  which  distinguish  the  highest  type 
of  manhood  and  womanhood  is  easily  proved. 
Thousands  of  the  working-people  are  in  the  low- 
est state  of  poverty,  and  living  a  domestic  life  not 
one  grade  above  the  hogs  that  wallow  about  their 
hovels.  I  know  of  no  better  evidence  with  which 
to  convince  my  readers  than  the  published  public 
reports  of  State  officials  in  Massachusetts,  New 
Hampshire,  Ehode  Island,  and  Connecticut.  Gen- 
eral H.  K.  Oliver,  of  Massachusetts,  whose  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  the  working-men  has  been  one  of 
the  leading  traits  of  his  noble  character,  says  that : 
"Here  will  be  found,  in  the  labyrinthal  slums 
of  cities,  in  narrow  courts,  dark  lanes,  and  nasty 
alleys,  wretched  tenements,  with  small  rooms,  dis- 
mal, dark,  unventilated,  into  which  the  sun,  God's 
free  gift,  never  sends  a  shimmering  ray ;  packed 
full  of  men,  women,  and  children,  as  thick  as 


174  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

smoked  herrings  in  a  grocer's  box.  'Here  they 
breed,  here  they  live  (!),  and  here  they  die,  with 
their  half-starved,  ill-clad  children, —  death's  daily 
dish,  with  typhus  and  scarlet  fever  and  cholera 
for  his  butchers ;  and  these  festering  stys,  owned 
by  gentlemen  of  fortune,  'who  live  at  home  at 
ease,'  and  whose  gold  is  of  the  sweat  of  their  ten- 
ants' brow,  in  a  rental  of  fifteen  to  twenty  per 
cent,  paid-  in  advance  !  In  such  dens,  if  a  horse 
were  kept,  the  society  for  the  suppression  of  cruelty 
to  animals  should  look  after  his  owner."  * 

Speaking  of  the  tenements  in  which  the  work- 
ing-people of  Boston  live,  he  states  that  on  the  oc- 
casion of  a  recent  visit  to  one  locality  he  found  fifty- 
four  families  occupying  fifty-six  rooms.  "These 
families  comprised  whites,  English,  and  Irish,  most- 
ly the  latter,  blacks,  mulattoes,  and  Indians, — 
men,  women,  and  children.  From  the  testimony 
of  the  lessee  and  others,  there  had  been  as  many 
as  450  occupants  at  one  time,  an  average  of  seven 
persons  to  a  room,  each  room  being  17  X  15  feet 
and  7  feet  high,  or,  say,  226  cubic  feet  to  each  per- 
son. The  rooms  are  smoky,  damp,  unpainted, 
and  mostly  unwhitewashed,  and  are  sitting-room, 
kitchen,  wood-room,  and  living-room  all  united  in 
one,  with  no  solar  ray  ever  entering  them,  except- 
ing at  the  uppermost  floor.  A  few  plants  in  some 

*  Massachusetts  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor, 


WORKINGMEN'S  HOMES.  175 

of  the  rooms  had  died,  and  no  wonder.  There  was 
no  transom-window  over  any  door,  and  not  a  win- 
dow in  the  house  could  be  let  down  from  the  top 
for  air,  and  no  ventilation  in  any  entry.  There  is 
no  fire-escape  of  any  sort  anywhere  about  the  build- 
ing, and  no  banisters  to  many  of  the  stairs,  so  that, 
in  case  of  fire,  it  would  not  be  possible  for  the  ten- 
ants to  escape  without  loss  of  life.  The  cellars 
were  very  damp,  and  only  lighted  by  what  light 
could  get  into  them  through  the  interstices  between 
the  wooden  bars  nailed  on  in  the  place  of  windows. 
There  was  but  one  solitary  sink  in  any  room,  and 
that  was  in  a  room  occupied  by  a  colored  woman." 
Now  when  a  man  can  afford  only  such  a  ten- 
ement as  this,  and  has  employment  sufficient 
to  pay  the  rent,  it  will  require  no  small  amount 
of  courage  to  enable  him  to  "  strike  "  and  risk 
his  very  existence  and  that  of  his  family  on 
the  result.  For  the  loss  of  a  single  day's  wages 
would  insure  suffering,  while  a  month  or  a  week 
might  result  in  a  dreadful  death.  Yet  many  have 
faced  the  terrible  possibility,  fully  conscious  of 
their  risks,  with  the  hope  of  bettering  themselves, 
or  of  assisting  others.  Some  idea  can  be  formed 
of  the  risk  which  "  strikers "  run  by  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  "  code  of  honor  "  that  has 
been  adopted  by  manufacturers,  and  which  obliges 
the  agent  of  each  factory  to  deny  work  to  every 
working  man  or  woman  who  has  ever  joined  in  an 


176  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

unsuccessful  strike  !  This  makes  the  strikes  in 
many  cases  the  mere  choice  between  starvation 
and  an  increase  of  wages  ;  and  no  man  or  woman 
would  place  himself  or  herself  in  such  a  position, 
or  hold  out  against  a  powerful  corporation  for  a 
single  day,  who  had  not  a  large  endowment  of 
moral  courage.  We  see,  however,  that  thousands 
of  intelligent  laborers  do  place  themselves  in  this 
hazardous  position,  and  hold  it  through  privation 
and  pain  until  justice  is  given  them.  More  than 
this ;  there  are  many  who,  in  the  face  of  almost 
certain  discharge,  have  boldly  petitioned  the  cor- 
porations to  investigate  and  prevent  the  future 
recurrence  of  the  grievances  recounted.  Many 
times  have  these  martyrs  to  a  cause  which  had 
not  only  themselves  but  many  others  in  view  been 
persecuted  and  hunted  for  daring  to  ask  for  right. 
It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  operatives  now  out  of  employment  in 
New  England  and  living  in  abject  poverty,  who 
would  still  have  been  in  the  factories,  had  they 
not  obeyed  the  personal  call  of  State  and  national 
committees  who  asked  for  information  upon  the 
treatment  of  laborers.  Many  have  been  discharged 
for  consenting  to  communicate  with  public  com- 
mittees, and  as  all  the  manufactories  exchange 
pay-rolls,  the  name  of  the  discharged  person  is 
known  and  posted  in  every  factory  of  New  Eng- 
land. 


MORALS   AND   WOKK.  177 

II. 

IT  is  not  owing  to  the  degeneration  of  the  work- 
ing-classes while  employed  in  the  shops  that  has 
made  the  difference  between  the  operatives  of  to- 
day and  those  employed  a  half-century  ago.  It  is 
the  result  of  the  introduction  by  the  factory-own- 
ers of  the  very  lowest  classes  to  the  exclusion  of 
older  and  more  moral  employees.  It  may  be  that 
honest  industry  tends  toward  moral  honesty,  and 
that  the  acquirement  of  physical  power  gives  men- 
tal and  moral  strength ;  for  it  seems  to  be  a  fact 
that  very  few  ever  leave  the  factory  morally  worse 
than  when  they  entered  it,  while  many  develop 
there  the  noblest  traits  of  human  character.  If 
under  such  circumstances,  with  no  opportunity 
to  pursue  a  course  of  education,  little  time  for 
thought  or  discussion,  they  show  a  natural  noble- 
ness, what  might  they  not  be  if  given  all  the  wages 
to  which  they  would  be  entitled  on  the  co-opera- 
tive principle,  and,  with  short  hours  of  labor, 
allowed  to  cultivate  and  discipline  their  intellect- 
ual powers  ? 

That  it  requires  an  effort  to  sustain  a  good  char- 
acter amid  the  influences  of  factory-life,  and  that 
the  present  good  behavior  of  the  operatives  is  due 
much  more  to  their  natural  inherent  virtue  than 
to  oppressive  and  unnecessary  "regulation,"  can 
be  seen  at  a  glance. 

8*  L 


178  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

The  girls  who  work  in  a  factory  are  never  alone, 
— always  in  a  crowd,  always  conversing  or  working, 
always  in  fear  of  observation ;  sleeping  in  crowd- 
ed apartments,  eating  at  a  crowded  table,  entering 
the  mills  at  a  crowded  door-way,  and  seeking  rec- 
reation on  streets  which  are  crowded  with  their 
companions.  In  this  concourse  are  persons  of 
every  grade  and  shade  of  character,  all  of  wrhom 
are  necessarily  the  associates  of  each  person  who 
enters  the  employ  of  the  corporation.  The  girl 
who  enters  the  factory  as  an  operative  is  always 
called  to  the  agent's  desk  and  directed  to  sign  the 
"  regulation  paper,"  by  which  she  binds  herself  in 
contracts,  the  import  of  which  is  as  unmeaning  and 
mythical  to  her  as  are  the  army  regulations  to 
newly  recruited  soldiers.  She  may  not,  and  in 
nearly  every  case  does  not,  know  that  she  binds 
herself  to  do  whatever  the  agent  demands,  or  pay 
a  forfeit.  But  she  is  educated  into  her  slavery  by 
degrees,  as  accident  or  opportunity  calls  her  atten- 
tion to  the  long  roll  of  by-laws  and  rules.  She 
rises  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  at  the  im- 
perative call  of  the  "  second  bell,"  and,  after  dress- 
ing herself  in  the  most  hurried  manner,  and  with 
scarcely  time  to  brush  her  hair  and  to  wash  her 
face,  —  which  is  done  in  the  general  wash-room 
near  the  dining-room,  —  she  rushes  with  the  crowd 
to  the  table  where  the  coffee  has  been  poured  out 
and  the  biscuit  distributed  for  the  hasty  meal. 


LIFE  OF  A  FEMALE   OPERATIVE.  179 

She  swallows  the  coffee  in  hurried  draughts, 
snatches  a  few  mouthfuls  of  bread,  and  with  as  lit- 
tle breakfast  as  she  has  appetite  jumps  from  the 
table  to  don  her  hat  and  shawL  Then  in  the  rush- 
ing, pushing,  joking,  shouting  multitude  she  is  car- 
ried along  to  the  factory.  Crushing  up  the  stair- 
way, dividing  on  the  landings,  spreading  tlrrough 
the  building,  the  mass  of  human  machinery  moves 
to  its  station,  and  she  finds  herself  at  the  last  stroke 
of  the  warning  bell  near  the  loom,  the  dresser,  or 
the  flyers.  Slowly  the  belts  begin  to  turn  upon 
the  pulleys,  faintly  sounds  the  roar  of  the  wheels 
below,  and  faster,  louder,  stronger,  move  the  dizzy 
wheels  about  her,  until  at  last,  with  a  rattle  and  a 
hum,  the  whole  mechanism  of  the  great  factory 
bursts  into  eloquent  activity.  Then  with  lively 
steps  and  nimble  fingers  she  applies  herself  to  her 
arduous  task.  As  the  hours  pass  on  her  appetite 
comes,  and  she  craves  the  breakfast  which  in  her 
haste  she  did  not  eat.  0,  such  hunger!  as  the 
slow,  tantalizing  minute-hand  creeps  around  the 
face  of  the  clock.  Every  minute  is  an  age.  The 
pangs  of  hunger  become  almost  unbearable  as  the 
hand  approaches  "  twelve,"  and  her  feet  will  hard- 
ly sustain  her  as  she  flies  back  and  forth  in  her 
work.  The  clock  strikes  twelve.  Instantly  the 
speed  begins  to  go  down,  the  flyers,  the  spokes,  the 
belt-knots,  and  shuttles  gradually  to  show  their 
outlines,  and  with  a  steady  decadence  the  whole 


180  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

apparatus  sighs  and  starts  as  if  dying,  then  trem- 
bles, shrieks,  and  stops  as  if  dead. 

Seizing  her  bonnet  and  shawl,  the  operative  joins 
in  the  general  rush  for  the  door-way,  leaps  down  the 
stairs,  hastens  across  the  yard,  and,  with  the  small- 
est show  of  ceremony,  seats  herself  at  the  table, 
which  is  prepared,  as  before,  for  a  hasty  meal. 
There  can  be  but  little  table  etiquette  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, and  as  the  time  is  short  and  the  hun- 
ger uncontrollable,  she  eats  as  every  other  being 
would  eat  which  found  itself  in  the  same  condi- 
tion. 

Then  another  rush  for  the  mill,  six  more  weari- 
some hours,  and  the  day's  work  is  done.  There 
may  or  may  not  be  a  rush  of  the  boarders  for  the 
supper-table,  as  that  depends  much  upon  the  repu- 
tation of  the  house  for  plenty  and  impartiality. 
But  the  manners  of  the  dinner-hour  are  likely  to 
be  repeated  from  force  of  habit.  Then  come  a  few 
spare  hours  in  which  the  girl  may  sit  in  the  par- 
lor reserved  for  her  and  her  lover,  may  walk  upon 
the  street,  or  busy  herself  in  her  room  with  read- 
ing or  sewing.  She  is  never  idle,  and  often  denies 
herself  necessary  exercise  in  order  to  read  some 
favorite  book,  make  some  additions  to  her  wearing 
apparel,  or  wash  the  extra  clothing  which  the  regu- 
lations do  not  allow  in  the  "  general  washing." 

It  is  a  frequent  practice  among  the  girls  to  se- 
lect one  of  the  number  to  read  aloud  during  the 


WORKING-WOMAN'S  LIFE.  181 

evenings  while  the  others,  seated  around  on  the 
cots  or  trunks,  do  the  reader's  sewing  or  mending 
together  with  their  own.  Then  the  nine  o'clock 
bell  sounds  its  warning  to  the  girls,  and,  as  the 
lights  must  all  be  out  at  ten  o'clock,  they  disrobe 
and  lie  down  upon  their  hard  couches,  from 
which  they  often  arise  in  the  morning  as  weary 
as  when  they  retired. 

This  dull  life  follows  day  after  day  with  monoto- 
nous routine  in  the  experience  of  the  factory-girls, 
and  one  would  think  that  the  natural  spirit  of 
enterprise  or  ambition  which  they  possess  when 
they  enter  the  mill  would  be  wholly  crushed  out. 
But  with  a  wonderful  exhibition  of  recuperative 
energy,  they  retain  their  vivacity  and  spirit  of  in- 
dependence (sometimes  rendered  impudence),  and, 
with  the  very  meagre  opportunities  given  them, 
continue  to  improve  their  minds  and  hearts.  The 
most  oppressed  class  in  factory  communities,  they 
are,  nevertheless,  the  most  independent-spirited, 
and  the  least  patient  when  others  are  wronged. 
The  frequent  expressions  of  contempt  for  meanness, 
the  undisguised  dislike  of  arrogance  or  foppery,  and 
the  common  phrase,  "  If  I  were  only  a  man ! " 
which  comes  to  the  lips  when  there  is  wrong  to  be 
righted,  show  a  natural  character  which  only  needs 
culture  and  justice  to  mould  into  the  highest  form 
of  nobility.  This  spirit  they  have  ever  shown  in 
their  "  strikes." 


182  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

III. 

WHAT  shall  I  say  of  the  men  ?  What  can  I  say 
of  them  as  factory  operatives  that  will  not  be  offen- 
sive, and  at  the  same  time  strictly  true  ?  Here  is 
a  field  for  thought.  With  a  few  hundred  bright 
exceptions  the  men  are  in  a  worse  slavery  than  the 
girls,  —  worse  because  it  holds  both  body  and  soul 
in  bondage.  Go  to  the  mills  and  see  how  the  men- 
dicant workman  kisses  the  rod  that  wounds  him, 
praises  the  overseer  that  swindles  him,  bears  curses 
and  even  kicks  without  a  murmur,  and  then  tell 
me  if  you  can  that  his  condition  is  a  desirable  one. 
Through  years  of  toil  and  servility  he  has  per- 
chance obtained  promotion,  or  he  sees  that  by  de- 
meaning himself  humbly  he  will  be  given  such  a 
position ;  and,  knowing  that  a  single  word,  act,  or 
vote  may  cause  his  discharge,  or  the  reduction  of 
his  pay,  and  of  the  consequent  chances  of  promo- 
tion, he  wholly  enslaves  himself.  Perhaps,  if  his 
natural  disposition  is  not  too  pure,  he  may  so 
stunt  his  affection  and  sympathy  as  to  become  a 
fit  tool  for  tyranny,  and  hence  an  "  excellent  over- 
seer." 

Such  men  can  have  but  one  ambition  and  one 
idea.  If  they  are  known  to  be  thoughtful,  reason- 
able men  they  will  be  discharged;  and  conse- 
quently they  care  nothing  for  education,  principle, 
or  enterprises  of  any  kind.  Mere  automatons  ! 


THE  CKISPINS.  183 

The  cotton-lords  pull  the  string,  and  jumping-jack 
crooks  his  senseless  legs. 

To  this  rule,  as  to  all  others,  there  are  excep- 
tions, and  the  success  of  these  exceptions  in  en- 
riching the  stockholders,  elevating  humanity,  and 
making  whole  communities  happier  only  serves  to 
throw  the  great  majority  into  a  deeper  and  blacker 
shade.  The  exceptional  factories  have  no  u  strikes." 
and  run  on  full  time. 


IV. 

IN  1858  and  1859  the  shoe  trade  of  New  Eng- 
land reached  enormous  proportions,  especially  in 
the  sale  of  the  cheapest  and  least  durable  class 
of  goods.  Whole  trains  of  cars  were  required  to 
carry  away  from  the  town  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  the 
manufactures  of  a  single  day.  Thousands  of  work- 
men were  employed  in  putting  —  perhaps  I  should 
say,  pasting  —  together  a  kind  of  shoes  which,  as 
they  were  intended  for  the  negroes,  the  Indians, 
and  the  general  "Western  trade,"  were  stuffed 
with  old  rags,  "  chips  "  of  leather,  and  soled  with 
pasteboard  and  other  equally  cheap  material.  At 
that  time  sufficient  stock  could  be  manufactured 
by  working  four  months  in  a  year ;  and  although 
very  good  wages  were  paid  the  shoemakers  during 
the  busy  season,  yet,  as  many  of  them  could  not 
obtain  other  work  for  the  remaining  ei"ht  months 


184  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

of  the  year,  they  were  reduced  to  abject  poverty. 
The  shoemakers  of  Lynn  were  looked  upon  by  the 
people  of  surrounding  cities  as  a  vile  and  unde- 
sirable population.  This  opinion  gained  support, 
and  doubtless  was  originated  by  the  poverty- 
stricken  appearance  of  the  houses  in  which  these 
workmen  resided.  Yet  in  those  same  years  the 
shoe  manufacturers  increased  their  wealth  at  a 
most  astonishing  rate.  Gold  rolled  in  upon  them 
like  a  flood,  and  men  who  in  1856  were  the  pos- 
sessors of  very  moderate  means  found  themselves 
money  kings  in  1859.  Great  was  the  contrast 
between  the  capitalist  and  workman ;  for  while  the 
man  who  earned  the  money  was  becoming  poorer 
and  poorer,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible,  the  man 
who  did  nothing  but  venture  his  money  in  an  in- 
vestment of  the  safety  of  which  he  was  well  as- 
sured, had  so  much  money,  so  many  houses,  lands, 
and  luxuries,  that  he  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with 
them. 

It  took  the  workmen  a  long  time  to  awaken  to 
a  sense  of  the  injustice  which  afflicted  them.  They 
could  not  understand  how  it  was  that,  while  they 
were  suffering  for  food,  —  their  wives  taking  wash- 
ing, picking  berries,  or  making  articles  of  wearing 
apparel  to  supply  the  usual  meals,  —  their  employ- 
ers, who  a  few  years  before  were  shopmen  or  retail 
store-keepers,  now  had  their  servants  and  livery, 
their  palaces  and  banquets. 


CAPITAL  AND  LABOR.  185 

But  the  time  came  when,  with  the  teachings  and 
under  the  leadership  of  a  few  natural  aristocrats 
who  arose  to  dispute  the  claims  of  the  moneyed 
aristocracy,  the  workmen  of  Lynn  fully  realized 
their  situation,  and  claimed  a  greater  share  of  the 
enormous  profits.  They  asked  for  a  small  advance 
in  their  pay.  It  was  not  much  when  the  profits 
were  taken  into  consideration,  but  the  capital- 
ists would  not  grant  it.  They  believed  that  they 
had  the  power  to  compel  the  shoemakers  to 
work  for  the  same  wages,  and  they  attempted  to 
exercise  it. 

Then  came  a  hard-fought  battle,  such  as  some- 
times startle  communities  in  time  of  peace,  and  in 
which  there  are  more  wounded  and  killed  than 
there  are  in  time  of  war.  It  was  labor  against 
capital ;  and  was  fought  upon  either  side  with  the 
greatest  determination.  Capital  was  organized ; 
labor  was  not.  The  manufacturers  had  a  large 
supply  laid  up  for  future  trade ;  but  the  laborers 
had  nothing  laid  by  against  such  a  time  of  need. 
So  for  lack  of  discipline,  organization,  and  supplies 
the  laborers  lost  the  battle.  The  capitalists  held 
possession  of  the  field,  but  the  workmen  were  not 
captured. 

After  passing  a  hard  winter,  in  which  they  suf- 
fered untold  privations,  and  during  which  some 
died,  others  became  permanently  disabled  with 
disease,  and  many  adopted  other  callings,  they 


186  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

scattered  in  the  early  spring,  —  some  to  the  South, 
some  to  the  "West,  and  a  few  to  the  farms  of 
Northern  New  England.  Meanwhile  the  capital- 
ists secured  a  partial  supply  of  laborers  from 
other  parts  of  the  United  States,  to  whom  they 
granted  better  terms,  though  not  the  exact  wages 
which  the  strikers  had  demanded  and  on  which 
as  on  a  "  point  of  honor "  they  remained  firm. 
But  the  shoe  business  never  resumed  its  former 
prosperity,  for  other  towns  and  cities  during  the 
"  strike  "  took  the  workmen  and  trade  of  Lynn, 
and  retained  a  good  proportion  of  it. 

In  1861  the  great  Civil  War  began,  and  there 
was  a  call  for  troops.  To  this  patriotic  request  the 
shoemakers  were  among  the  first  to  respond,  and 
that  same  city  of  Lynn  sent  out  two  regiments, 
the  greater  portions  of  which  were  shoemakers. 
The  remnants  of  the  strikers  from  all  over  the 
land  met  again  on  the  battle-fields  of  the  South, 
and  renewed  the  old  friendships  which  existed 
when  such  adverse  fortune  drove  them  asunder. 
In  those  camps  and  garrisons,  on  the  picket  posts 
and  parapets,  these  shoemakers  told  over  and  over 
again  the  story  of  the  great  "  strike  "  and  the  in- 
cidents attending  it.  All  this  while  the  military 
campaigns  failed  or  succeeded,  the  army  was  de- 
feated or  won  victories  from  day  to  day,  and  each 
result  taught  its  lesson  to  every  common  soldier 
engaged  in  the  battles.  The  necessity  for  close 


STRATEGY  FOR  PEACE.  187 

organization,  for  discipline,  union,  and  concentra- 
tion, was  apparent  to  the  most  casual  spectator. 

"Why  not  apply  array  tactics  and  strategy  to  the 
battles  which  are  fought  in  time  of  peace  ?  Why 
not  unite  the  shoemakers  in  a  bond  of  sworn  broth- 
erhood, and  hereafter  make  no  demands  which 
they  did  not  feel  that  they  possessed  the  power  to 
enforce  ? 

They  were  thoroughly  schooled  in  the  science  of 
army  organization,  and  saw  that,  however  ill  they 
might  be  treated  in  time  of  peace,  they  were  of 
great  importance  to  the  nation  when  it  was  in 
danger.  They  saw  a  powerful  organization,  under 
the  leadership  of  a  single  mind,  overthrowing 
one  system  of  slavery;  and  they  discerned  how, 
by  the  same  means,  another  system  might  be  de- 
stroyed. 

The  war  closed ;  and  these  men,  who  had  been 
four  years  planning  and  discussing,  returned  to 
their  old  labors  in  the  shoe-shops  of  the  country. 
Again  the  shoe  trade  began  to  flourish,  the  con- 
tractors gathered  again  the  whole  harvest  of  gold, 
as  the  laborers  thought,  and  every  week  made- 
more  and  more  apparent  the  necessity  for  an 
organization  strong  enough  to  compete  and,  if 
necessary,  fight  with  capital 

At  this  juncture  Xewell  A.  Daniels,  one  of  that 
titled  'band  for  whose  cause  this  book  is  written, 
appeared  as  the  champion  of  the  shoemakers. 


188  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Possessed  of  a  mind  as  able  as  his  heart  was  good ; 
being  earnest,  practical,  persevering,  and  industri- 
ous; having  the  enterprise  which  accompanies 
"New  England  nativity,  and  the  open-heartedness 
of  a  Western  man,  he  founded  the  order  of  the 
"Knights  of  St.  Crispin"  (St.  Crispin  was  a 
travelling  monk,  who  made  shoes  for  charitable 
purposes,  and  to  supply  himself  with  food).  "With 
the  assistance  of  William  J.  McLaughlin,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  several  other  able  and  honest 
men,  the  order  was  rapidly  extended.  In  1870  it 
included  nearly  every  male  shoemaker  in  the 
United  States,  and  a  great  many  in  the  Canadas ; 
all  of  whom  united  in  a  band  of  brotherhood,  not 
for  the  purpose  of  warring  on  capital,  not  merely 
to  raise  their  wages,  but  to  secure  their  just  rights, 
educate  one  another,  and  provide  for  the  needy. 
In  this  they  have  succeeded.  There  have  been 
"strikes"  in  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco, 
Eochester,  N.  Y.,  Worcester,  and  many  other  cities ; 
but  by  taxing  the  whole  order  to  provide  for 
the  strikers,  and  having  been  so  successful  in 
-pledging  to  their  cause  all  the  best  workmen,  the 
capitalists  in  every  instance  -were  obliged  to  yield ; 
and  both  labor  and  capital  are  receivers  of  their 
due  returns. 

In  no  case  do  the  Crispins  counsel  violence,  and 
their  strikes,  like  their  intentions,  have  been  peace- 
ful and  unassuming.  Even  when  the  first  load 


KNIGHTS   AND   DAUGHTERS.  189 

of  Coolies  -were  brought  into  Massachusetts  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  insulting  and  breaking  up  the 
organization,  there  was  no  riot  and  no  disturbance 
of  any  kind.  They  are  brothers  now  in  word  and 
deed ;  and  so  long  as  they  remain  united  upon  the 
broad  ground  of  justice  and  equality  which  they 
have  now  taken,  and  strand  not  upon  the  rocks 
of  discord  so  apt  to  underlie  a  too  calm  sea  of 
prosperity,  they  will  be  powerful  agents  in  the 
elevation  of  the  workingmen  and  in  the  support 
of  national  prosperity. 

V. 

THE  women !  how  men  run  after  them  when 
there  is  money  to  be  made,  and  how  soon  desert 
them  when  there  is  money  to  be  lost !  Even  the 
Knights  of-  St.  Crispin,  with  all  their  strength 
and  honesty  of  purpose,  could  not  hope  to  be 
successful  if  the  women  did  not  second  their 
efforts.  The  men  might  strike  and  strike  till 
doomsday,  for  all  the  capitalists  would  care,  when 
so  many  thousand  women  stood  ready  with  able 
hands  to  do  the  work  which  the  men  refused. 
But  the  women  are  generous,  —  far  too  generous  in 
some  respects  for  the  good  of  the  race,  —  and,  see- 
ing the  justice  of  the  Crispins'  demands,  came  at 
once  to  their  relief  by  organizing  the  order  of 
"  The  daughters  of  St.  Crispin."  The  women  knew 


190  NATUKE'S  AEISTOCKACY. 

that  if  they  did  not  organize,  the  Knights  of  St. 
Crispin  might  be  defeated ;  and  a  defeat  of  the 
men  would  really  be  a  victory  for  the  women, 
as  in  every  strike  the  women  would  be  given 
better  places  and  better  wages.  But  they  enter- 
tained no  such  selfish,  contemptible  spirit  as  such 
motives  would  create,  and  they  have  ever  stood 
ready  to  assist  in  maintaining  every  effort  of  the 
men  which  has  right  for  its  end. 

Now,  in  perfect  harmony,  being  careful  to  ask  for 
nothing  unreasonable,  the  Knights  and  Daughters 
of  St.  Crispin  work  together;  and  it  needs  but 
a  glance  at  the  neat  homes,  the  tidy  dress,  the 
happy  faces,  the  shelves  of  books  and  periodicals, 
which  occupy  the  sites  of  former  hovels,  to  con- 
vince the  lover  of  humanity  of  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  those  who  founded  these  orders. 

VI 

DTJEING  the  year  ending  October  1,  1870,  there 
were  twelve  strikes  in  New  England,  and  it  so 
happened  that  I  was  present  at  a  part  of  the  meet- 
ings in  six  of  the  disturbed  localities. 

In  October,  1869,  the  journeymen  tailors  of  Bos- 
ton struck  for  an  increase  of  wages.  Before  tak- 
ing the  step,  however,  the  Boston  branch  of  the 
National  Trades  Union  consulted  with  their  breth- 
ren in  other  localities  as  to  the  expediency  of  the 


THE  TAILORS'  "STRIKE."  191 

proposed  measures,  and  when  they  were  wholly 
prepared  they  submitted  their  new  "  bill  of  prices," 
giving  the  employers  the  choice  between  the  new 
prices  and  no  work  No  arrogance,  no  force,  no 
ill-will  marked  their  movements,  but  every  request 
was  couched  in  respectful  language,  supported  with 
unanswerable  arguments,  and  pressed  with  a  calm 
spirit  of  determination.  There  was  a  great  bluster 
among  the  dealers  and  contractors,  and  much  loud 
talk  about  "  never  submitting."  But  as  they  lacked 
an  organization,  and  could  not  agree  among  them- 
selves upon  the  best  course  to  pursue,  they  con- 
cluded one  after  another  to  pay  the  demands  and 
supply  their  impatient  customers. 

Yet  they  did  not  submit  with  a  good  grace,  and 
muttered  vengeance  while  they  consented  which 
boded  no  good  to  the  tailors. 

Since  that  time  the  dealers  have  turned  their 
attention  to  the  tailoresses.  and  finding  amon<r 

*  O  O 

them  many  efficient  persons  who  were  as  well  able 
to  make  a  coat  as  were  the  men,  they  quietly  gave 
them  the  needed  instruction  and  discharged  the 
jour.s.  The  jour.s  took  too  little  notice  of  the 
tailoresses  to  ask  for  a  national  organization  of 
the  women  before  the  "  strikes "  began  to  protect 
them,  and  to  this  cause  more  than  to  the  intro- 
duction of  foreign  workmen  is  due  the  present  un- 
fortunate condition  of  the  journeymen  tailors  of 
the  country. 


192  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

VII. 

IT  will  be  many  years  before  I  shall  forget  that 
cold,  blustering  December  day  when  I  stepped 
from  the  train  at  Dover,  K  H.,  during  the  great 
strike  of  1869.  The  Cocheco  Cotton  Manufactur- 
ing Company  of  that  city,  having  in  its  employ 
about  eight  hundred  operatives,  gave  them  notice 
that  from  December  1,  1869,  the  pay  of  the  em- 
ployees would  be  reduced  twelve  per  cent.  To 
this  reduction  the  operatives  protested,  saying, 
among  other  statements,  that  the  company  was  as 
prosperous  as  it  had  ever  been,  which  was  shown 
by  the  facts  that  its  stock  was  held  at  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  premium  on  each  share  of 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  that  its  premiums  had 
never  been  less  than  sixteen  per  cent.  They  also 
showed  how  the  manufactures  of  that  mill,  owing 
to  the  superior  work  which  its  intelligent  employ- 
ees turned  out,  brought  two  cents  more  on  a  yard 
than  the  cloth  of  any  other  mill,  with  not  one 
exception,  in  New  England,  while  the  employees 
were  not  paid  as  much  as  they  were  in  many  other 
mills  to  which  reference  was  made.  But  their 
protest  was  of  no  avail  because  the  agent  had  no 
authority  "  to  disobey  the  commands  of  the  direc- 
tors," and  they  had  decided  "  after  due  deliberation  " 
that  such  a  course  would  be  "  for  their  advantage." 
Consequently  all  the  weavers  —  nearly  four  hun- 


THE   DOVER  "STRIKE."  193 

dred  —  and  the  majority  of  the  other  employees 
left  the  factory,  and  refused  to  enter  it  again  unless 
they  could  be  guaranteed  the  same  pay  that  they 
had  been  receiving. 

"When  I  arrived  there  were  over  eight  hundred 
of  the  employees  out  of  the  factory,  and  hence  out 
of  any  kind  of  business;  and  although  the  day 
was  cold,  the  snow  deep,  and  clouds  overhead,  the 
streets  presented  a  lively  and  interesting  appear- 
ance. All  the  people  of  Dover  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  strikers,  and  the  excitement  called  out  all 
the  citizens  of  the  city  and  attracted  many  stran- 
gers from  abroad.  Great  was  the  enthusiasm.  The 
girls  were  confident  of  success  because  the  justice 
of  their  cause  was  so  apparent.  No  person  thought 
that  the  corporation  could  hold  out  against  such 
a  strong  current  of  public  opinion,  or  that  they 
would  risk  the  reputation  of  the  mill  and  the  value 
of  their  stock  in  the  market. 

They  had,  however,  determined  to  reduce  the 
pay,  and,  make  or  lose,  they  would  adhere  to  their 
resolution.  But  for  this  tyrannical  resolve  I  should 
never  have  seen  the  beautiful  and  intelligent  faces 
which  stood  upon  the  platform,  nor  have  listened 
to  their  sweet  voices  in  speech  or  song  under 
the  "  starry  canopy  "  of  Exchange  Hall.  The  voices, 
the  day,  the  place,  the  songs,  and  even  the  words 
of  welcome,  may  perhaps  be  forgotten,  but  the  faces 
never  will.  They  have  become  a  part  of  my  being, 


194  NATURE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

and  wherever  I  go  the  bright  faces,  the  dark  faces 
the  happy  faces,  and  the  sad  faces  all  gather  aroimci 
me  urging  on  the  battle  which  is  only  just  begun 
Never  was  there  gathered  an  audience  of  eight 
hundred  persons  in  which  there  were  so  many  re- 
markable countenances.  They  all  belong  to  old 
New  Hampshire  stock  There  was  but  the  slightest 
mixture  of  foreign  blood,  and  nearly  every  person 
in  the  hall  was  born  among  the  granite  hills.  They 
knew  their  rights,  "  and  knowing  dared  maintain," 
while  their  every  act  was  indicative  of  natural 
sprightliness,  independence  of  character,  and  a 
laudable  amount  of  self-culture.  It  did  not  seem 
possible  that  the  wishes  of  such  an  intelligent 
and  considerate  class  should  be  ignored  when  they 
asked  for  bread.  I  remember  one  old  lady  who 
was  introduced  as  "  a  soldier's  widowed  mother," 
who  entered  the  mill  twenty-six  years  ago.  What 
changes  she  had  seen!  Once  she  had  been  a 
weaver  in  that  same  mill,  having  the  charge  of 
only  two  looms,  with  spare  hands  to  spell  her,  and 
had  received  more  wages  in  value  than  she  now  re- 
ceived after  an  apprenticeship  of  twenty-six  years, 
and  while  attending  upon  four  looms.  Time  after 
time  the  company  had  cut  down  the  pay,  —  always 
reducing  when  the  market  was  dull,  and  never 
raising  when  the  goods  were  in  active  demand,  — 
until  now  the  new  girls  who  had  charge  of  six 
looms  received  the  same  pay  that  was  once  given 


SONG  AND   STORY.  195 

for  tending  two.     Meantime   the  board  had  ad- 
vanced from  $  1.25  a  week  to  $3  per  week. 

The  strikers  assembled  every  day  in  the  hall, 
as  they  had  no  other  place  to  go,  and  encouraged 
each  other  to  hold  out  with  speeches,  anecdotes, 
and  songs.  I  recollect  a  song  now,  which  was 
rendered  in  an  excellent  manner  by  a  boy,  and 
which  seemed  to  thrill  every  person  present.  It 
was  entitled  the  "  Sailor's  Grave,"  and  in  it  were 
the  following  words :  — 

"Death  struck,  — he  gave  no  coward  alarms, 
For  he  smiled  and  died  in  his  messmate's  arms. 
We  proudly  decked  his  funeral  vest 
"With  the  stars  and  stripes  upon  his  breast ; 
We  gave  him  this  as  a  badge  of  the  brave, 
And  then  he  was  fit  for  a  sailor's  grave." 

Sitting  near  me  at  the  time  this  plaintive  song 
was  sung  was  a  beautiful  young  lady  by  the  name 
of  Cynthia  Howe.  I  noticed  that  she  showed 
much  interest  in  the  ballad  during  the  rendition 
of  the  first  verses ;  but  when  the  singer  came  to 
the  words  above  quoted,  she  burst  into  tears,  and, 
laying  her  head  upon  the  back  of  the  seat,  sobbed 
in  a  most  piteous  manner.  After  the  boy  had 
taken  his  seat,  I  asked  her  why  she  felt  so  grieved, 
and  this  is  the  story  as  she  told  it  to  me  on  that 
occasion. 

Her  only  brother  was  an  officer  in  the  Gulf 
naval  squadron,  under  the  command  of  Admiral 


196  NATURE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

Farragut.  On  him  the  hopes  of  the  aged  and  in- 
digent parents  depended,  and  he  was  consequently 
the  idol  of  parents  and  sister.  But  he  was  killed 
by  a  piece  of  a  bomb-shell  as  he  was  walking 
the  deck  of  his  vessel  in  the  attack  on  Mobile.  He 
died  in  "  his  messmate's  arms  "  and  was  "  decked  " 
in  the  stars  and  stripes ;  and  hence  the  power  of 
the  song  on  the  only  remaining  child  who  was  try- 
ing to  cheer  the  declining  years  of  her  parents 
with  the  fruits  of  industrious  toil 

This  affecting  incident  led  me  to  inquire  further, 
and  to  my  surprise  I  found  that  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  the  girls  who  "  struck  "  wrere  the  widows, 
mothers,  sisters,  or  daughters  of  soldiers  who  were 
killed  in  the  war  with  the  Eebellion.  Many  of 
these  were  the  relatives  of  soldiers  who  disap- 
peared in  such  circumstances  that  no  trace  or  rec- 
ord of  their  death  was  found,  and  the  families  for 
that  reason  could  get  no  assistance  from  the  gov- 
ernment. This  was  the  case  with  the  old  lady 
who  entered  the  mill  twenty-six  years  ago. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  great  promises 
which  were  held  out  to  those  soldiers,  and  the 
moral  agreement  which  the  State  made  to  provide 
for  the  destitute  whom  such  men  left  behind,  I 
cannot  refrain  from  reproaching  the  people  —  the 
men  —  of  New  Hampshire  with  ingratitude  and 
perfidy  for  permitting  those  women  to  be  swin- 
dled in  the  way  they  were  by  a  rich  corporation, 


ASSISTING  THE  "STRIKERS."  197 

the  members  of  which  lived  and  carried  the  profits 
out  of  the  State. 

It  was  evident  that  some  of  the  strikers  must 
suffer  for  food  unless  an  organized  effort  was 
made  to  provide  for  them.  The  citizens  crowded 
themselves  and  boarded  as  many  as  they  could  ac- 
commodate, taking  a  lively  interest  in  the  opera- 
tives' welfare.  A  levee  and  festival  was  given  at 
the  City  Hall,  to  which  the  people  of  the  city 
and  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  contributed  large 
amounts,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  devoted  to 
the  sustenance  of  the  strikers.  Contributions 
were  received  in  money  from  other  manufacturing 
towns. 

Meanwhile  the  directors  of  the  company,  the 
stock  of  which  had  depreciated  one  hundred  per 
cent,  scoured  the  country  as  far  as  Canada,  and 
brought  in  every  woman,  man,  and  child  whom 
they  could  hire  at  any  price.  Nearly  a  week  was 
employed  in  this  way,  during  which  time  the  mills 
were  silent  and  dark.  But  after  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  hands  had  been  secured  to  work  a  part  of 
the  machinery,  although  the  company  must  lose 
much  money  through  the  awkwardness  of  "  green 
hands  "  and  the  expense  of  running  without  a  full 
supply  of  operatives,  notice  was  given  that  the 
mills  would  start,  and  such  persons  as  wished  to 
resume  work  at  the  reduced  wages  could  do  so  on 
the  following  Monday  morning. 


198  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Great  was  the  consternation  among  the  strik- 
ers, for,  until  then,  they  had  not  deemed  it  pos- 
sible that  the  company  could  be  so  "  cruelly  unjust." 
There  was  weeping  in  many  a  household,  and  a 
gloom  was  cast  over  the  whole  community.  Sad 
faces  everywhere.  Many  of  the  girls  must  work 
even  at  the  Deduction,  if  they  could  not  get  bet- 
ter terms,  while  others,  seeing  that  their  condition 
would  be  even. worse  than  it  had  been,  abandoned 
the  mill,  left  Dover,  and  sought  for  other  and  more 
remunerative  employment. 

Then  followed  the  New  Hampshire  election,  and 
it  was  thought  that  the  excitement  resulting  from 
the  Dover  strike  would  give  a  large  vote  to  the 
labor  reform  party.  Politicians  who  addressed  the 
girls  during  the  sessions  of  the  mass  meetings 
promised  them  justice  through  the  polls.  But, 
alas !  the  real  sufferers,  like  those  strikers  who  were 
promised  the  same  thing  thirty  years  before,  could 
not  vote ;  while  the  great  reduction  of  wages  made 
it  easy  for  capitalists  to  buy  the  votes  of  servile 
men,  and  defeat  the  advocates  of  justice.  The 
smaller  the  wages  paid  a  man  the  less  value  does 
he  put  upon  his  vote,  while  the  employer  has  more 
money  to  expend  for  political  purposes  than  he 
had  before.  It  is  said  by  many  that  the  general 
rule  now  is  to  make  the  operatives  pay  for  all  im- 
provements, for  election  expenses,  for  accidents, 
and  for  other  losses,  always  by  a  reduction.  So 


END   OF  THE  "STRIKE. 

that  the  sight  of  a  new  wheel,  new  blinds,  new 
buildings,  improved  machinery,  a  destructive  fire, 
or  the  sickness  of  stockholders  are  only  the  fore- 
runners of  a  reduction  in  the  rate  of  wages. 

So  the  Dover  strike  closed,  and  as  noble  an 
assembly  of  human  beings  as  ever  congregated  un- 
der one  roof  were  defeated,  captured,  and  bound 
by  their  avaricious  taskmasters,  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  the  captives  had  none  of  the  arms  which 
political  power  supplies,  and  were  consequently 
bare-handed,  defenceless,  and  impotent. 

One  remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  that 
strike  will  show  the  character  of  the  parties  who 
joined  in  the  movement.  During  the  week  a  work- 
ing-woman's association  was  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  mutual  aid  and  mutual  instruction ;  and 
when  the  officers  were  chosen  they  were  nearly  all 
found  to  be  graduates  of  the  High  Schools  of  Bos- 
ton, and  about  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  members 
were  the  graduates  of  some  institution  of  learning. 
To  their  intelligence  alone  was  the  corporation 
indebted  for  the  premium  at  winch  its  productions 
were  held  in  the  market  over  those  of  other  manu- 
factories. 

VIII. 

THE  strike  of  the  operators  connected  with  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  in  the  winter 
of  1869-70  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 


• 

200  NATUEE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

events  of  the  kind  that  ever  occurred  in  the  United 
States.  At  nearly  the  same  hour  the  telegraph- 
operators  in  a  thousand  different  offices,  including 
almost  every  town  and  village  on  the  line  be- 
tween Boston  and  San  Francisco,  left  their  desks 
and  refused  to  return  until  an  operator,  who  had 
"been  unjustly  discharged  in  California,  should  be 
returned  to  his  position.  It  was  a  small  matter, 
the  public  said,  about  which  to  make  so  much  dis- 
turbance; but  it  was  just  as  important  to  the 
operators  as  it  would  have  been  had  a  thousand 
been  discharged,  or  the  wages  of  all  decreased.  It 
was  an  infringement  of  the  rules  laid  down  by  the 
"  Telegraphers'  Union,"  and  to  those  rules  each 
member  had  been  sacredly  pledged.  If  they  would 
strike  under  any  circumstances,  then  they  must 
strike  for  that  cause.  They  did  not  hesitate  or 
waver.  There  was  nothing  cowardly  about  them, 
and  they  showed  marks  of  heroism  when  they 
risked  their  livelihood  in  defence  of  principle. 

But  the  "greatest  monopoly  of  the  age"  was 
not  to  be  defeated  by  fair  means ;  and,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  careless  neglect  of  organization  in 
Maine,  and  availing  itself  of  such  woman's  help 
as  had  not  been  considered  of  sufficient  import- 
ance to  organize,  it  began  to  do  business  again  in  an 
awkward,  limping  manner.  The  victory  for  the 
Telegraph  Company  was  complete  as  far  as  the 
strikers  were  concerned ;  for  their  organization 


TELEGKAPH  OPEEATORS.         201 

was  broken  up ;  their  most  skilled  workmen 
changed  their  occupation,  and  the  remnant  went 
sorrowing  back  into  such  positions  as  the  victors 
chose  to  give  them.  But  the  battle  was  not  won 
without  sacrifice  on  the  side  of  the  company ;  for, 
after  they  had  lost  many  thousand  dollars  on  un- 
sent  despatches  and  misused  apparatus,  and  had 
so  disturbed  the  commercial  world  as  to  give  fresh 
life  and  great  respectability  to  a  rival  company, 
they  were  obliged  to  increase  their  expenses  in 
order  to  do  the  same  work  which  the  old  operators 
had  done  so  cheaply.  Two  such  victories  would 
be  the  death  of  any  company  that  has  not  impe- 
rial power ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  glory  of  that 
success  will  ever  prompt  that  company  again  to 
defy  the  united  strength  of  the  operators  in  de- 
fence of  a  cause  where 

"  'T  is  sure  defeat  to  win." 

IX. 

DURING  the  same  winter  there  were  strikes 
among  the  Crispins  in  several  cities,  but  as  they 
asked  so  little  and  succeeded  so  completely,  I  can- 
not give  space  to  them  here.  In  the  month  of 
June,  1870,  however,  there  was  a  strike  among 
the  operatives  in  a  small  cotton-mill  at  Canton, 
Mass.  That  town  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful villages  in  New  England,  and  is  remark- 

9* 


202  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

able  for  the  advantages  of  its  location,  the  pic- 
turesqueness  of  its  scenery,  and  the  general  en- 
terprise and  ability  of  its  people.  The  company 
in  whose  building  these  operatives  had  been 
employed  was  evidently  determined  at  the  outset 
to  be  very  generous  and  considerate  toward  the 
operatives.  They  built  nice  little  cottages  for  the 
families  of  the  operatives,  and  spared  no  pains  to 
give  the  grounds  and  houses  a  tasty  and  tidy 
aspect.  They  had  every  appearance  of  homes, 
and  one  would  have  thought,  before  family  secrets 
were  known,  that  the  inmates  of  those  cottages 
must  be  very  happy.  But  as  the  subsequent 
action  of  the  company  seemed  to  indicate  that  the 
houses  were  "  for  effect "  when  Congressional  com- 
mittees, State  boards,  excursionists,  and  friends 
should  visit  them,  the  cottages  answered  that 
purpose  and  nothing  more. 

The  company  had  been  making  preparations  for 
a  strike  by  inducing  the  operatives  to  work  fifteen 
hours  a  day,  and  thus  getting  a  sufficient  supply 
ahead  of  the  demand  to  fill  orders  during  the 
suspension. 

When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  goods  was  manu- 
factured, the  company  decided  that  the  pay  of  the 
operatives  should  be  reduced  ten  per  cent,  and 
directed  the  innocent  agent  to  carry  out  the  orders 
and  "  take  all  of  the  curses."  He  obeyed  the  or- 
ders and  received  the  maximum  number  of  curses. 


THE  "STRIKE"  IN  CANTON.  203 

The  operatives  in  their  protest  stated  that  their 
wages  at  the  old  rate  were  less  than  they  could 
live  upon,  and  procure  the  comforts  of  life ;  that 
at  a  previous  strike  the  proprietors  had  shown 
perfidy  in  acceding  to  the  demand  for  an  increase 
in  the  pay  per  "  cut "  or  piece,  and  afterwards 
lengthening  the  pieces,  so  as  to  compel  the  opera- 
tive to  weave  forty-six  yards  into  each  piece  in- 
stead of  thirty. 

This  had  been  repeatedly  done  in  other  factories. 
Once  a  "  cut "  was  thirty  yards,  and  the  operative 
received  twenty-five  cents  for  weaving  it ;  now  it 
is  forty-five  or  forty-six  yards,  and  the  weaver 
receives  no  more  pay  than  she  did  when  there  were 
only  thirty.  The  strikers  also  showed  that  the 
company  were  growing  very  wealthy,  and  could 
well  afford  to  raise  their  wages  twenty  per  cent 
instead  of  cutting  them  down  ten.  But  the  agent 
bore  these  blows  with  becoming  meekness,  "would 
see  about  it,"  "  was  sorry  for  them,"  &c.,  and  prob- 
ably said  nothing  to  the  directors  about  it,  for  fear 
that  those  avaricious  hounds  would  pitch  upon  him 
and  "  take  his  head  off."  So  the  girls  were  "  on  the 
strike,"  and  a  jolly  time  they  did  have  of  it  for  a 
few  days.  Nearly  all  of  them  boarded  with  their 
own  families,  and  were  literally  at  home,  and  a  few 
days  of  rest,  with  enough  excitement  to  prevent 
monotony,  was  something  to  be  appreciated  by  these 
weary  working-women.  A  morsel  of  fresh  air,  a 


204  NATURE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

little  recreation,  time  to  think,  and  time  to  sleep 
were  something  precious  to  them ;  and  when  they 
secured  it  even  by  a  strike,  they  were  for  the 
time  carelessly  happy.  It  happened  (somehow, 
this  happens  often  when  the  girls  of  any  place  are 
on  a  strike)  that  the  machinery  of  the  Iron  Works 
broke  down,  and  the  employees  of  that  company 
joined  in  the  crowd  of  strikers,  swelling  it  to 
very  imposing  proportions.  Mass  meetings  were 
held  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  in  the  public  park, 
and  wherever  the  assembly  deemed  it  to  be  expe- 
dient' speeches  were  made,  and  the  usual  demon- 
strations customary  on  such  occasions. 

After  a  week  of  idleness  the  mill  was  again  put 
in  running  order,  and  the  news  circulated  by  the 
agent  that  the  company  had  secured  a  sufficient 
number  of  hands  to  run  the  mills,  and  a  notice  was 
served  on  all  the  occupants  of  the  company's  cot- 
tages to  vacate  the  premises  at  once,  or  resume 
work  in  the  mill  at  the  reduced  rates. 

Many  of  the  twenty-six  families  who  rented 
houses  of  the  company  believed  the  report  about 
the  supply  of  operatives,  and  felt  that  they  must 
yield.  Then  came  as  great  sorrow  as  there  had 
been  joy.  There  was  a  choice.  They  could  stay 
out  and  leave  their  homes,  or  they  could  go  into  the 
mill  and  suffer.  Either  course  led  to  privation  and 
to  grave  dangers  which  they  hesitated  to  face. 

Addressing  myself  to  one  lady  who  seemed  unde- 


WORK   OR   STARVE.  205 

cided  as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue,  I  asked  her 
why  she  did  not  make  up  her  mind  ;  and  I  received 
the  following  pointed  reply :  "  There  is  but  little 
choice,  —  it  is  starve  if  you  go  in,  and  starve  if  you 
stay  out.  Once  when  I  had  only  two  looms,  and 
earned  more  than  I  can  to-day,  we  had  a  petticoat 
overseer  who  assisted  us,  and  took  our  places  when 
we  wished  to  rest,  or  were  sick.  Now  I  run  six 
looms,  and  have  no  assistance  of  any  kind.  Now 
I  get  twenty-five  cents  a  "  cut,"  and  by  working 
eleven  hours  I  can  earn  on  six  looms  one  dollar  a 
day.  This  leaves  me  only  six  dollars  a  month  for 
clothing  and  other  expenses,  after  paying  my  board 
and  laying  up  nothing.  If  I  take  another  loom,  as 
I  am  urged  to  do,  to  earn  my  old  wages,  I  cannot 
do  my  work  well.  Often  when  we  have  plenty  of 
time,  and  only  four  looms  to  watch,  the  mildewed 
thread  is  so  weak  that  it  constantly  breaks,  and  we 
are  fined  for  doing  poor  work.  Sometimes  we  are 
obliged  to  purchase  the  whole  piece,  and  pay  the 
rich  owner  out  of  our  little  wages  for  cloth  which 
an  angel  could  not  make  strong  from  such  rotten 
material.  On  the  reduction  it  is  not  possible  to 
live. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  if  I  go  out  the  owners  will  do 
by  me  as  they  have  by  others,  taking  the  pains  to 
get  me  discharged  from  any  factory  in  which  I 
might  otherwise  be  employed.  Considering  then 
the  pure  air  of  the  hills  as  compared  with  the 


206  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

tainted  atmosphere  in  the  unventilated  mill,  and 
the  glorious  freedom  of  out-door  life,  I  have  come 
near  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  better  to  stay  out 
and  starve  in  the  sunshine  than  to  work  and  famish 
in  those  musty  shades." 

Among  the  strikers  were  two  young  ladies  of 
fine  tastes,  handsome  personal  appearance,  and  re- 
fined education,  who  had  sought  employment  in  the 
mill  as  a  last  resort,  for  the  support  of  themselves, 
their  widowed  mother,  and  a  little  orphan  cousin. 
They  had  a  cultivated  taste  for  music  and  the  fine 
arts,  and  delighted  me  during  my  stay  at  their 
home  with  occasional  musical  performances.  There 
was  nothing  more  heroic  about  their  toilsome  life 
and  the  support  of  then:  mother  than  I  had  seen  in 
many  other  places,  although  that  was  praiseworthy ; 
but  to  see  them  dividing  their  earnings  with  the 
little  orphan  boy,  when  they  had  not  plenty  for 
themselves,  was  an  uncommon  and  a  most  touching 
sight.  The  father  of  the  boy  had  been  a  soldier, 
and  after  the  war  he  did  not  recover  the  health 
which  he  lost  in  the  South.  In  a  fit  of  insanity 
he  wandered  off,  and  had  never  been  heard  from  by 
his  sister  since  his  departure  several  years  ago. 
She  believed  that  he  was  dead,  and  she  had  taken 
the  little  boy  as  a  member  of  the  family.  I  pitied 
the  little  fellow,  whose  intellectual  face  saddened 
whenever  anything  happened  to  remind  him  of  his 
father,  or  of  his  dependence  upon  his  land  aunt  and 


LESSONS  IN   LIFE.  207 

cousins.  How  kindly  they  cared  for  him,  and  how 
considerate  they  appeared  to  be  of  his  feelings ! 
They  were  happy,  even  in  their  privation,  receiving 
the  purest  joy  which  comes  to  man  as  a  reward  for 
their  benevolence  and  sympathy. 

If  the  Canton  strike  gained  the  employees  noth- 
ing financially,  and  if  the  manufacturers  did 
not  so  far  disgrace  themselves  as  to  depreciate  the 
stock  or  value  of  their  goods,  there  was,  neverthe- 
less, a  profit  to  me  as  a  spectator  beyond  anything 
which  money  can  bring.  I  saw  there  the  best 
side  of  human  nature,  and  gained  such  fresh  con- 
fidence in  the  human  race  by  contemplating  the 
faces  and  actions  of  that  kind-hearted  family,  that 
I  felt  as  if  the  world  were  more  attractive  and  life 
more  desirable  than  ever  before. 

There  are  many  bright  gems  which  the  world 
has  not  seen,  and  a  thousand  joys  in  the  hearts  of 
the  benevolent  poor  which  the  avaricious  wealthy 
can  never  know. 

"  There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  Horatio, 
Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy." 

X. 

ONE  evening  in  the  summer  of  1868  there  were 
gathered  in  the  largest  hall  of  Fall  River,  Mass., 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  audiences  that  ever 
assembled  in  a  manufacturing  town.  It  was  an 


208  NATUKE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

occasion  when  the  friends  of  the  "Ten-Hour 
Movement "  were  to  show  their  strength  and 
explain  the  objects  of  the  associations  which  were 
springing  up  in  all  parts  of  the  Eastern  States. 
There  were  lawyers,  officials,  factory  proprietors, 
and  wealthy  merchants  mingled  with  the  assembly, 
while  many  accepted  the  invitation  to  come  forward 
and  occupy  seats  upon  the  platform.  There  seemed 
to  be  but  one  opinion.  Rich  and  poor,  employer 
and  workman,  were  united  upon  the  question  of 
reducing  the  hours  of  labor.  I  remember  the 
cheers  and  the  eloquent  words  which  came  so 
spontaneously  from  the  mouths  of  the  assembly, 
and  I  felt,  as  the  meeting  closed,  as  if  the  factories 
would  begin,  if  not  on  the  morrow,  certainly  at 
no  distant  day,  the  experiment  of  ten  hours  of 
labor,  and  ten  hours  only.  But  when  on  the  next 
day  I  visited  some  of  the  owners  at  their  invita- 
tion, and  asked  them  why  they  did  not  undertake 
the  experiment  at  once,  they  said  that  it  was  a 
movement  upon  which  it  was  necessary  to  have 
a  union  of  the  manufacturers  before  it  could  be 
put  in  practical  operation.  They  knew  that  ten. 
hours,  and  perhaps  nine,  would  give  them  just  as 
much  work  and  less  expense,  while  the  laborer 
would  have  the  extra  time  for  mental  and  social 
improvement ;  but  they  said  that  it  was  a  sys- 
tem which  they  could  not  introduce  alone.  It 
would  spread  discontent  in  other  factories,  the 


MULE-SPINNERS'   "STRIKE."  209 

owners  of  which  might  not  be  believers  in  the 
ten-hour  plan.  These  men,  however,  were  willing 
to  give  their  money  and  personal  influence  toward 
the  institution  of  ten-hour  associations. 

In  this  they  kept  their  word,  and  the  factory- 
owners  of  Fall  Eiver  were  the  most  liberal  sup- 
porters of  that  movement  for  a  considerable  time. 
They  tried  the  plan  of  running  ten  hours  a  day 
for  a  year  or  more,  but  gave  it  up,  as  they  claimed, 
because  they  could  not  compete  with  other  fac- 
tories. The  union  of  manufacturers  upon  the  ten- 
hour  question  has  not  yet  come,  although  the 
National  Congress  and  State  Legislatures,  through 
the  influence  of  those  associations,  have  made 
some  wise  provisions  by  statute.  The  manufac- 
turers of  modern  times  seem  to  think  that  man  is 
a  machine  which  will  run  as  long  as  the  power  is 
applied,  and  be  as  efficient  during  the  last  hours 
as  it  is  at  the  beginning  of  the  day.  One  would 
suppose  that  with  all  their  experience  and  boasted 
Yankee  "  sharpness,"  they  would  see  the  fallacy  of 
that  argument;  especially  since  the  astonishing 
results  of  the  Ten-Hour  Bill  in  England  have 
shown  so  conclusively  that  men  and  women  will 
do  as  much  wrork  in  a  year  at  ten  hours  a  day  as 
they  will  if  required  to  toil  twelve  hours  a  day.* 

In  July,  1870,  the  mule-spinners  employed  in 

*  "History  of  the  Ten-Hour  Legislation,"  —  Kichard  Grant. 
"  Workmen  and  Wages,"  —  Ward. 

N 


210  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

one  of  the  mills  in  Fall  River  struck,  and  left 
the  factory  because  the  proprietors  wished  to  re- 
duce their  wages  ten  per  cent.  Before  doing  this, 
however,  the  spinners  attempted  to  make  a  com- 
promise, and  indicated  their  willingness  to  work 
on  at  a  reduction  of  five  per  cent.  But  the 
haughty  capitalists  treated  their  communications 
with  silent  contempt.  Consequently,  twenty  thou- 
sand working  men  and  women  were  either  volun- 
tarily absent  from  their  business,  or  compelled, 
from  their  dependence  upon  the  spinners  for  sup- 
plies, to  suspend  their  labor.  Many  people  prophe- 
sied that  such  a  large  number  of  laborers  would 
not  remain  long  in  peaceful  idleness,  and  the 
whole  city  was  more  or  less  in  fear  of  a  riot.  The 
exasperated  factory  officials  were  longing  for  a 
riot,  or  some  other  unlawful  demonstration  which 
would  give  them  some  legal  hold  upon  the  strikers, 
and,  it  is  said,  took  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  adver- 
tise the  time  and  place  when  a  riot  "  would  come 
off,"  in  order  that  a  crowd  might  gather  and  their 
wishes  be  fulfilled.  The  crowd  gathered,  but 
there  was  no  riot.  And  that  twenty  thousand, 
exasperated  by  injustice,  in  a  measure,  coarse  and 
crude,  and  insulted  by  the  presence  of  police  that 
were  brought  to  awe  them,  and  by  companies  of 
militia  ordered  out  one  day  by  the  capitalists  to 
make  the  public  think  there  was  great  danger, 
did  not  commit  a  single  act  of  violence,  or  damage 


CONSISTENT  CAPITALISTS.  211 

a  dollar's  worth  of  property.  There  were  some 
individual  melees,  and  some  threats  by  a  few  in- 
considerate ones;  but  the  great  body  discounte- 
nanced any  violence,  and  were  peaceful,  well- 
behaved  citizens.  For  two  months  the  strike 
continued;  furnishing  a  most  exciting  theme  for 
New  England  gossip ;  and  at  last  ended  in  the  re- 
turn of  the  operatives  at  the  reduced  prices,  and 
under  a  pledge  never  to  engage  in  another  strike. 
The  strikers  were  literally  starved  into  submission, 
and  after  enduring  the  greatest  hardships  which 
men  ever  accept  in  defence  of  a  principle,  they 
cowed  before  the  capital,  and  another  page  was 
added  to  the  record  of  defeat  which  weakness  and 
right  suffer  from  strength  and  wrong. 

Taking  sides  with  the  mill-owners  on  all  occa- 
sions were  to  be  found  the  ardent  advocates  of  a 
"  ten-hour  system  "  ;  so  inconsistently  supporting 
a  reduction  which  must  sooner  or  later  compel  the 
employees  to  labor  an  additional  hour  a  day  in 
order  to  support  themselves.  Consistency  may  be 
a  jewel,  but  it  never  ornaments  the  persons  of 
such  men.  The  fact  is  that  "  ten-hour  systems," 
"  labor  reforms,"  or  any  other  of  the  many  hobbies 
that  men  now  ride  into  popularity  upon,  are  all 
worse  than  useless  unless  founded  upon  the  one 
great  principle  of  justice,  and  it  was  on  that 
ground  that  the  strikers  of  Fall  Eiver  took  their 
stand. 


212  NATUKE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

The  "  factory  system  "  or  any  other  system  that 
has  the  subject  of  labor  and  capital  in  view,  is 
morally,  and  should  be  lawfully,  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  co-operative  association.  Philosophers 
claim  to  see  in  the  future  a  new  system  in  which 
the  laborer  shall  be  a  partaker  in  the  profits  of  the 
factory  or  farm.  They  would  have  the  laborer 
receive  a  stipulated  sum  and  the  capitalist  another 
stated  amount,  after  which  the  profits  shall  be 
equally  divided ;  or  there  is  to  be  no  wages,  but 
a  fair  division  of  the  profits  instead,  —  either  of 
which  seems  nothing  more  than  simple  justice. 
But  that  end  could  just  as  well  be  reached  by  an 
increase  of  the  wages,  until  the  laborer  received 
in  that  way  his  just  proportion  of  the  profits,  and 
when  money  was  lost,  a  proportionate  decrease. 
I  do  not  believe  that  a  strike  ever  occurred 
where  the  operatives  knew,  when  the  decrease  was 
announced,  that  the  stockholders  were  not  then 
growing  immensely  rich  out  of  the  profits  of  the 
business  or  had  not  already  received  enough  more 
than  their  just  proportion  of  previous  profits  to 
carry  the  employees  equitably  over  the  "  dull  sea- 
son "  at  their  old  wages.  There  is  no  equity  or 
justice  in  giving  to  one  man  a  million  of  dollars 
a  year,  while  fifty  thousand  of  his  partners  in  the 
work  receive  only  six  or  seven  hundred.  He  may 
be,  with  his  capital,  entitled  to  a  larger  proportion 
than  the  workmen,  but  never  to  such  a  share  as 


CO-OPEKATION.  213 

that  or  as  great  as  one  half  of  that  amount  would 
be. 

That  the  laborers  are  naturally  entitled  to  a 
position  on  an  equal  with  the  employer  is  shown 
by  their  equality  in  intellectual  and  physical  en- 
dowments ;  and  as  such  they  have  been  recognized 
by  every  great  statesman  or  lawgiver  of  the  world. 
"  The  world  is  the  Lord's,"  said  an  eminent  Ger- 
man writer,  "  and  we  are  his  children.  How  then 
can  it  be  that  so  many  of  us  are  born  into  the 
world  with  no  landed  inheritance  ? "  He  might 
also  have  asked,  How  can  it  be  that  fellow-men 
are  permitted  to  curse  the  disinherited  ones  with  a 
life  of  bondage,  in  which  they  earn  much  and  get 
little,  see  plenty  and  have  nothing  ? 


CHAPTEE    XII. 

CHARITABLE    INSTITUTIONS. 

"Wliat  is  Charity  ?  —  "Wages  according  to  the  Profits.  —  The  Law- 
rence Calamity.  —  Charity  and  small  Wages.  —  Cutting  down 
the  Pay  of  Operatives  to  make  great  Donations.  —  Temporary 

•  Relief  not  a  permanent  Cure.  —  '  Homes."  —  Their  Uses  and 
Abuses.  —  How  a  "  Soldiers'  Home  "  was  supported.  —  Inci- 
dents, &c. 

I. 

AKITY!  —  how  many  conflicting  reflections 
that  word  brings  into  the  mind !  Love,  pride, 
vice,  shame,  benevolence,  ambition,  hate,  right- 
eousness, and  sin  seem  so  squeezed  and  mashed 
into  one  another  in  the  idea  it  suggests,  that  an 
accurate  definition  would  be  impossible.  The  time 
was  when  it  meant  a  simple,  unostentatious  act 
of  the  purest  sympathy  and  love.  But  that  day 
passed  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  To- 
day it  is  applied  to  anything  and  everything  which 
a  rich  man  may  do  to  gain  praise.  It  consists,  not 
in  doing  justly,  not  in  permanently  assisting  unfor- 
tunate mankind,  or  in  such  acts  as  prevent  poverty 
or  suffering,  but  is  applied  to  the  giver  of  presents. 


CHAEITY.  215 

If  a  man  is  wealthy  enough  to  give  a  million  of 
dollars  to  a  church,  college,  school,  or  hospital, 
without  missing  it,  his  action  is  emblazoned  on 
the  banners  of  worldly  praise  as  charity. 

The  state  of  that  society  is  sufficiently  unfortu- 
nate and  unnatural  where  charity,  according  to 
the  Bible  definition,  is  needed  to  prevent  suffering ; 
but  it  may  be  said  to  be  in  a  very  demoralized 
condition  when  both  the  acts  of  old-fashioned 
charity  and  new-fashioned  benevolence  cannot 
alleviate  the  pangs  consequent  upon  compulsory 
poverty.  It  is  dreadful  to  think  that  when  a  man 
gives  back  to  his  victims,  in  a  provision  for  "  an 
institution,"  a  part  of  the  sum  of  which  he  delib- 
erately robbed  them,  he  is  to  be  lauded  to  the 
skies  as  an  example  of  mortal  perfection. 

In  a  true  and  natural  state  of  society  there 
would  be  no  paupers  who  deserved  charity. 
Where  there  are  equal  privileges  and  equal  remu- 
neration, the  people  are  never  poverty-stricken, 
and  never  suffer  for  any  of  the  comforts  of  life.  A 
case  of  a  person  mentally  and  physically  disquali- 
fied to  earn  his  own  living,  and  at  the  same  time 
destitute  of  relatives  able  to  help  him,  would  be, 
indeed,  a  rare  occurrence  in  such  a  community  as 
that ;  while  they  who  wilfully  or  lazily  neglected  the 
opportunities  given  them  ought  to  suffer,  and  their 
poverty  be  held  up  as  a  warning  to  others.  That 
we  shall  never  see  such  perfection  in  human  society 


216  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

as  long  as  human  nature  undergoes  no  radical 
change  is  self-evident;  but  there  is  no  reason  why 
we  should  not  attempt  to  come  as  near  to  perfec- 
tion as  we  can.  Though  we  may  never  expect 
to  see  the  time  when  there  are  no  deserving  poor 
in  our  midst,  still  let  us  at  least  keep  that  number 
at  the  lowest  possible  figure. 

Much  can  be  done  by  increasing  the  wages  of 
those  classes  who  earn  more  than  they  get.  This 
would  be  much  more  charitable  than  robbing  them 
through  a  series  of  years,  and  then  giving  the  money 
to  which  they  are  morally  entitled  to  an  asylum 
where  they  may  be  cared  for  when  broken  and 
crippled.  Many  a  man  who  secured  his  money  by 
grinding  the  poor  and  appropriating  that  which 
belonged  to  the  laborer  has,  at  his  death,  made 
"  munificent  bequests,"  and  been  lauded  as  a  saint. 
I  cannot  say  that  these  gifts  and  bequests  are  not 
of  great  use  to  the  world,  for  I  am  aware  that  a 
great  many  institutions  of  learning  and  religion 
have  been  founded  and  perpetuated  by  these  means. 
If  man  must  be  avaricious,  and  feels  compelled  to 
overreach  his  less  talented  or  weaker  brother  on 
every  occasion,  then  it  is  better  to  give  it  to  charita- 
ble institutions  than  risk  the  poor  man's  earnings 
in  the  hands  of  reckless  or  profligate  children.  But 
how  much  better  is  it  to  do  justly  all  one's  life,  and 
at  death  have  no  great  riches,  nor  see  the  need  of 
them  for  "  charitable  purposes  "  ! 


CARE  OF  THE  SUFFERING.  217 

II. 

WHEN  the  great  disaster  at  Lawrence,  Mass., 
caused  by  the  fall  of  the  Pemberton  Mill,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  became  noised  abroad, 
there  was  such  a  flood  of  contributions  from  every 
part  of  the  United  States  that  the  committee  on 
the  distribution  of  funds  did  not  know  wrhat  to  do 
with  it.  At  first  all  kinds  of  provisions,  medical 
stores,  and  personal  comforts  came  in  by  the  car- 
load. This  was  followed  by  gifts  in  money,  and  so 
frequent  and  liberal  were  the  donations  that  a  card 
was  published,  saying  that  the  committee  did  not 
need  any  more  money  for  the  comfort  or  future  wel- 
fare of  the  sufferers.  The  funds  remaining  on  hand 
after  the  burial  of  the  bodies,  paying  for  medical 
attendance,  and  providing  homes,  were  invested  as 
a  permanent  fund,  established  for  the  benefit  of  the 
crippled  ones,  and  after  their  decease  to  other  un- 
fortunate factory  operatives.  "  What  a  charitable 
people ! "  says  the  reader ;  and  I  would  echo  the 
words  of  praise  which  naturally  follow.  But  how 
much  better  it  would  have  been  had  the  proprietors 
shown  a  little  charity  for  the  laborers  who  built 
the  mill,  and  given  them  such  wages  as  would  have 
insured  its  stable  construction ! 

Again,  the  Lawrence  disaster  was  not  such  an 
extraordinary  occurrence  after  all.  It  seemed  more 
terrible  because  the  victims  were  all  together,  and 
10 


218  NATURE'S  AEISTOCEACY. 

their  cries  for  help  were  united ;  yet  there  are  nearly 
as  many  killed  or  maimed  every  year  in  the  fac- 
tories of  the  United  States  as  were  injured  by  the 
fall  of  that  mill.  Here  a  man  is  crushed  in  the 
gearing,  there  one  has  his  arm  or  leg  pulled  off  by 
the  belting,  while  in  another  place  some  poor  fellow 
has  been  mutilated  by  a  saw,  or  had  his  ribs  broken 
by  a  fall.  Day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  we 
read  of  these  cases,  think  nothing,  care  nothing, 
about  them,  and  go  our  way  pitying  the  sufferers 
at  the  "  great  calamity." 

A  few  years  ago  a  young  man  of  my  acquaint- 
ance was  standing  near  a  carding-machine,  when 
he  noticed  that  the  supply  .of  wool,  in  the  absence 
of  the  female  attendant,  had  run  out.  He  knew 
that  in  a  moment  the  cards  would  clash,  and  the 
machine  be  damaged  to  the  extent  of  several 
hundred  dollars.  He  did  not  wait  to  discuss  the 
probabilities  of  danger,  or  think  of  any  reward 
for  such  an  active  interest  in  the  owner's  welfare, 
but  sprang  to  the  machine  and  attempted  to 
push  the  belt  from  the  pulley.  He  succeeded  in 
his  efforts  to  stop  the  machine,  but  before  the  belt 
was  wholly  off  the  drum  of  the  pulley  he  slipped 
upon  the  soaped  floor,  and  his  hand  was  caught  in 
the  machinery  in  such  a  way  as  to  draw  in  his 
right  arm. 

He  had  been  an  excellent  hand  about  the  fac- 
tory, and  was  the  most  faithful  servant  that  the 


STRANGE   SYMPATHY.  219 

corporation  ever  had.  They  expressed  much  re- 
gret at  the  loss  of  his  services,  and  gave  him  verbal 
assurance  of  their  sympathy,  at  the  same  time 
thanking  him  for  saving  the  valuable  machine. 
That  was  all.  The  arm  was  paralyzed  for  life ;  and 
the  cripple  often  seen  afterward  around  the  mill 
with  a  basket  of  confectionery,  trying  in  that  way 
to  earn  a  scanty  living.  No  rich  stockholder  ever 
thought  of  giving  him  money,  nor  did  he  appear 
to  be  conscious  of  any  indebtedness  to  him,  yet 
those  same  men  of  money  sent  very  liberal  pres- 
ents indeed  to  the  sufferers  at  Lawrence. 

III. 

IT  appears  to  be  a  singular  fact  that  those  par- 
ties who  are  the  most  charitable  pay  the  smallest 
wages  to  persons  in  their  employ.  It  often  hap- 
pens that  while  the  mistress  of  a  house  is  visiting 
the  poor  or  attending  the  board  meetings  of  some 
charitable  institution,  there  are  servant-girls  at  her 
home  washing  the  clothes  and  ceilings,  taking  up 
carpets,  or  cooking  the  dinner,  with  whom  she  has 
had  a  long  and  exciting  debate  over  the  twenty- 
five  cents  per  week  which  the  servant  wished  to 
have  added  to  her  wages.  Nine  chances  out  of 
ten  the  mistress  refused  to  pay  the  additional 
twenty-five  cents  to  the  servant,  while  she  gave 
away  ten  dollars  during  the  day  to  women  who 


220  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

had  been  servant-girls  once,  and  who  would  not 
have  been  the  wrecks  she  saw  had  they  received 
reasonable  compensation  for  their  work. 

A  woman  who  had  purchased  a  new  set  of  furni- 
ture for  her  parlor  at  the  cost  of  two  thousand  dol- 
lars, sent  for  an  upholsterer  to  lay  the  carpets,  &c. 
On  his  telling  her  that,  as  he  had  spent  years  at 
his  trade,  he  must  have  five  dollars  for  the  day's 
work,  she  dismissed  him  and  sent  for  an  uphol- 
steress,  whose  price  (as  usual)  was  only  half  that 
of  the  man.  With  her  the  mistress  discussed  and 
pleaded  until  the  upholsteress,  rather  than  haggle 
longer,  consented  to  do  the  work  for  twenty-five 
cents  less  than  the  ruling  price.  The  furniture 
was  heavy  and  the  carpets  thick,  so  that  the 
woman  had  a  most  severe  job,  but  this  did  not  at- 
tract the  attention  of  the  mistress,  who  was  all  the 
while  cogitating  upon  the  appearance  of  the  parlor, 
and  who,  after  concluding  that  the  covers  for  the 
chairs  and  sofas  were  not  rich  enough  to  suit  her 
taste,  sent  without  hesitation  to  the  store  and  pur- 
chased another  set  at  the  cost  of  fifteen  dollars. 

The  same  day  she  sent  a  servant,  whose  pay 
was  only  $  2.25  a  week,  to  the  florist's  for  a  bouquet 
of  flowers  costing  $  5,  so  that  she  might  see  if 
flowers  "  increased  the  effect "  of  the  new  mantel- 
piece. Soon  after  this  a  board  of  private  charities 
met  in  that  same  parlor,  and  the  mistress  of  the 
house  gave  four  hundred  dollars  toward  the  "  chari- 


CHARITY  TOO  LATE.  221 

table  object "  of  providing  a  home  for  needy  chil- 
dren. 

A  prominent  factory-owner  of  Ehode  Island  was 
requested  on  the  Sabbath  to  subscribe  to  the  fund 
for  the  building  of  a  "  branch  chapel "  where  the 
poor  might  receive  the  gospel  He  cheerfully 
placed  five  thousand  dollars  against  his  name,  and 
the  very  next  day  ordered  a  reduction  in  the  wages 
of  his  employees  in  order  to  make  his  "  accounts 
balance." 

During  the  strike  in  Canton,  Mass.,  when  so 
many  girls  were  obliged  to  accept  such  wages  as 
placed  them  within  the  reach  of  want  and  its 
attendant  temptations,  there  were  men  in  Boston 
who  expressed  great  indignation  that  laborers 
should  attempt  to  dictate  to  capital  "  The  em- 
ployer has  a  perfect  right  to  pay  just  such  wages 
as  he  chooses,  and  if  the  girls  do  not  like  the  terms 
they  can  turn  their  attention  to  something  else," 
said  one,  without  stopping  to  consider  that,  owing 
to  the  rules  adopted  by  each  factory  and  the  un- 
skilfulness  of  the  girls  in  any  other  business,  they 
could  only  turn  their  attention  one  way,  —  down- 
ward and  hellward.  Yet  the  very  next  day  some 
of  the  members  of  that  social  circle  went  to  the 
office  of  the  Boston  Chief  of  Police  and  urged  him 
to  accept  money  in  aid  of  the  projected  movement 
toward  the  reformation  of  the  one  hundred  night- 
walkers  arrested  on  the  previous  evening.  "  How 


222  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

very,  very  sad,"  said  those  philanthropists,  "  that 
so  many  beautiful  and  healthy  women  should  be 
brought  to  the  dock  of  a  Boston  court  for  crime ! " 

No  one  will  doubt  the  benevolent  intentions  of 
those  gentlemen,  nor  their  desire  to  see  the  refor- 
mation of  those  unfortunate  fallen  women ;  but 
when  we  consider  that  the  effect  of  their  example 
in  paying  servant-girls,  factory -girls,  or  shop-girls 
small  wages  had  so  reduced  the  income  of  these 
girls  while  in  other  men's  employ,  that  they 
adopted  this  life  to  avoid  more  acute  suffering,  it 
seems  a  rather  tardy  charity  after  all.  It  may  be 
that  some  of  the  girls  were  once  the  employees  of 
these  same  philanthropists. 

A  manufacturer  of  ready-made  clothing  in  Chi- 
cago gave  eight  thousand  dollars  toward  the  con- 
struction of  a  house  of  worship,  and  then  cut  down 
the  price  formerly  paid  for  making  garments.  For- 
tunately for  the  shop-girls,  there  is  a  scarcity  of 
their  material  in  the  West,  and  the  larger  part  of  the 
employees  left  the  shop  for  other  situations.  But, 
according  to  the  testimony  before  a  coroner's  jury, 
there  were  a  few  whose  necessities  were  so  press- 
ing that  they  dared  not  risk  the  loss  of  employ- 
ment, even  for  one  day,  and  who,  after  working 
along  for  two  or  three  months,  abandoned  their 
work, —  eight  seeking  a  house  of  ill-fame  and  two 
committing  suicide. 

A  gentleman  and  lady  quarrelled,  one  Sunday 


CUEIOUS  GENEROSITY.  223 

morning,  with  the  milkman,  who  had  to  rise  at 
midnight  in  order  to  supply  his  customers,  and 
who  prosecuted  his  labor  with  unfailing  prompt- 
ness in  cold,  rain,  or  heat.  The  cause  of  the 
trouble  was  a  difference  of  eight  cents  between  the 
account  of  the  mistress  and  that  of  the  milkman. 
The  milkman  lost  the  eight  cents  and  went  on  his 
way,  while  the  stingy  couple  prepared  for  church. 
That  day  contributions  were  requested  for  the 
education  of  the  negroes,  and  this  same  couple 
threw  each  a  ten-dollar  bill  into  the  treasury-box. 
A  gentleman  of  great  literary  talent  and  repu- 
tation wished  for  a  copyist.  I  recommended  to 
him  a  poor  orphan-girl,  who  had  succeeded  in  grad- 
uating at  the  Normal  School.  She  was  an  excel- 
lent writer  and  very  intelligent,  and  was  without 
doubt  a  first-class  copyist,  while  the  gentleman's 
handwriting  was  so  difficult  to  read  that  corre- 
spondents cut  out  the  autographs  from  his  letters 
and  pasted  them  on  the  returning  envelopes  be- 
cause they  could  not  make  out  the  name.  He 
kept  the  girl  at  work  copying  his  letters  one  day, 
and,  finding  that  she  had  done  all  that  he  desired 
for  the  time,  he  gave  her  a  one-dollar  bill,  and  said 
that  as  he  had  no  change  and  she  was  so  poor  she 
might  keep  the  whole.  (Wonderful  generosity  !)  A 
few  weeks  after  another  lady,  who  was  also  an  or- 
phan, but  a  relative  of  an  aristocratic  family,  was 
sent  to  him  for  work  or  assistance.  He  said  that  he 


224  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

had  no  work  fitted  for  the  hands  of  "  such  as  she," 
but  he  would  give  her  ten  dollars,  and  promise 
to  furnish  more  if  she  should  need  it.  Both  the 
applicants  were  equally  needy.  One,  because  she 
performed  a  hard  day's  work,  obtained  one  dollar  as 
her  wages  ;  while  the  other  as  a  mendicant  aristo- 
crat received  ten  dollars  as  "  a  charity." 

Ladies  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  some  of 
the  other  large  cities  have  certain  days  on  which 
they  give  charities,  and  some  have  as  large  a  num- 
ber as  twenty  to  whom  they  give  fifty  or  seventy- 
five  cents  per  week.  Perhaps  the  lady  of  the 
house  knows  of  other  parties  living  in  the  street 
who  give  other  stipulated  sums  to  the  same  beggars, 
so  that  the  mendicants  receive  from  two  and  a  half 
to  five  dollars  per  week.  Meanwhile  the  maid  who 
works  hard  all  day  in  the  nursery  or  chambers, 
dresses  the  mistress  for  an  evening  party,  and  sits 
up  until  one  o'clock  to  assist  her  to  disrobe,  receives 
$2.50  a  week.  The  mistresses  are  so  anxious  that 
these  maids  shall  earn  their  wages  that  they  never 
leave  the  house  without  studying  out  some  method 
for  keeping  the  maids  busy  during  their  absence. 
These  same  ladies  will  pay  two  dollars  a  week  for 
the  board  of  a  poodle-dog,  and  discharge  a  servant 
during  the  summer  trip  into  the  country  because 
there  is  but  "  little  for  a  servant  to  do  for  several 
weeks." 

I  remember  a  public  dinner  which  was  given  in 


DINNER  FOR  LITTLE  BEGGARS.  225 

the  "  Cradle  of  Liberty "  to  the  poor  children  of 
Boston.  Long  draped  tables,  vases  of  bouquets, 
flags  and  mottoes,  graced  the  hall,  and  a  feast  fit 
for  a  king  was  spread  around  the  little  ragged, 
dirty  gamins  of  that  city.  Of  course  they  en- 
joyed it,  and  were  happy.  They  had  never  seen 
anything  to  compare  with  it  in  their  short  lives, 
and  gave  themselves  into  the  hands  of  the  benev- 
olent ladies  with  gratitude  and  cheerfulness.  I 
saw  them  file  into  the  hall,  and  march  down  beside 
the  tables.  There  were  many  bright  faces,  many 
a  flashing  eye,  and  many  a  high  forehead.  But,  on 
the  same  plane  of  unnatural  equality  on  which 
they  dwelt  without,  those  poor  children  stood  side 
by  side  with  the  foolish  and  dull-headed  denizens 
of  their  damp  alleys ;  eating  their  turkey,  pastry, 
fruit,  and  sweetmeats  with  awkward  greediness. 

Speeches  were  made  to  the  children,  urging 
them  to  be  thankful  for  such  a  magnificent  ban- 
quet, and  filling  their  ears  with  professions  of 
friendship.  At  the  close  of  the  feast  each  child 
was  given  a  pair  of  shoes,  or  some  other  useful  arti- 
cle of  dress,  and  sent  back  to  his  musty  and  cheer- 
less home,  to  be  forgotten  as  soon  as  the  press  which 
lauded  the  benevolent  projectors  had  distributed 
its  last  edition ;  yea,  they  were  at  once  forgotten 
by  all  in  the  "  upper "  world  except  by  the  gener- 
ous contributors,  who  rested  in  the  proud  satisfac- 
tion of  having  made  two  thousand  children  happy. 
10*  o 


226  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Thoughtful  ones  studied  over  the  problem  as 
from  time  to  time  they  recalled  the  circumstances, 
and  were  not  a  little  puzzled  with  the  question, 
whether  that  dinner  was  a  charity  or  in  any  way 
a  kindness.  It  appears  to  me  that  anything 
which  does  not  alleviate  the  condition  of  the  poor, 
while  it  serves  to  make  them  very  discontented 
with  their  lot,  is  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing. 
After  partaking  of  such  luxuries  there  would  be 
but  a  small  appetite  for  the  cold,  mouldy  crust  of 
bread;  and  after  visiting  such  a  beautiful  place 
and  receiving  such  marked  attention,  their  cold, 
dark  homes  would  be  more  cheerless  and  uncom- 
fortable than  ever.  It  is  like  Dead  Sea  fruit  to 
the  eyes  of  the  famishing  wanderer ;  cheering  and 
strengthening  him  for  a  moment,  only  to  leave 
him  disappointed  and  disconsolate  when  he  at- 
tempts to  pluck  it.  It  serves  also  to  show  how 
wide  is  the  gulf  between  them  and  plenty,  mak- 
ing them  discontented,  envious,  and  criminally 
desperate. 

Without  the  least  doubt,  some  of  the  subscrib- 
ers to  that  dinner-fund  were  the  next  day  rebuk- 
ing some  of  the  childish  recipients  of  their  benev- 
olence for  charging  one  or  two  cents  more  than 
the  usual  price  for  blacking  boots,  or  for  trying  to 
sell  them  the  daily  paper. 


HOMES.  227 

IV. 

THE  large  number  of  "Homes"  which  are  being 
established  in  all  our  large  cities  show  that  the 
great  public  has  a  conscience,  and  that  it  so  far 
repents  of  its  misdeeds  as  to  adopt  this  method  of 
returning  to  the  rightful  owners  some  of  its  ill-got- 
ten gains.  There  are  "Homes"  for  "Drunkards," 
"Consumptives,"  "Old  Ladies,"  "Old  Men,"  "Col- 
ored Men,"  "Reformed  Women,"  "Little  Wander- 
ers," "Bootblacks,"  "Newsboys,"  "Worn-out  Ser- 
vant-Girls," "Indigent  Hack-drivers,"  "Sewing- 
Girls,"  and  "  Poorhouses,"  with  hospitals  for  the 
afflicted  poor,  and  asylums  for  the  blind,  the  insane, 
and  the  crippled.  These  institutions  are  usually 
endowed  by  some  benevolent  or  "charitable  "  man, 
who  gives  a  large  sum  of  money  toward  the  im- 
mortalization of  his  little  name.  In  these  "  Homes" 
no  sufferer  is  admitted  as  a  matter  of  right,  but  all 
are  constantly,  and  oftentimes  offensively,  reminded 
of  their  dependence.  One  of  the  most  absurd  re- 
quests ever  made  was  the  petition  of  an  old  man 
to  be  admitted  into  an  institution  which  his  penu- 
rious employer  had  founded,  and  where  the  peti- 
tioner wished  to  be  treated  "like  a  proprietor." 
Yet  his  earnings  for  twenty  years,  except  the 
small  percentage  necessary  to  pay  his  temporary 
expenses,  had  been  put  into  that  institution  by  his 
employer. 


228  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  institutions 
are  of  vast  importance  to  the  welfare  of  society  in 
its  present  condition,  and  that  these  gifts,  no  mat- 
ter what  the  motive  may  be  that  influences  the 
giver,  are  a  blessing  to  such  unfortunate  persons 
as  cannot  otherwise  obtain  from  the  world  their 
just  dues. 

Considering  these  "  Homes  "  a  necessity,  then, 
so  long  as  law-makers  are  bought,  and  votes  are 
quoted  in  the  political  market  like  stocks  in  the 
marts  of  finance,  the  only  reform  in  which  the 
few  justly  disposed  can  directly  engage  is  that  of 
reorganizing  these  "Homes"  upon  the  principle 
that  the  poor  should  not  be  treated  as  suppliants, 
but  should  be  entitled  to  the  same  consideration 
and  the  same  privileges  which  would  be  conceded 
to  a  wealthy  grandfather  who,  although  living 
upon  his  own  money,  has  become  too  old  to  take 
proper  care  of  himself. 

A  review  of  some  of  the  methods  now  pursued 
in  the  management  of  "Homes"  will  show  the 
necessity  of  reform  and  the  difficulties  which  re- 
formers will  be  obliged  to  encounter. 

First:  the  charity  of  the  trustees  or  managing 
boards  begins  too  far  up  the  scale.  In  many  cases 
which  have  been  brought  to  my  notice,  the  mana- 
gers have  selected  superintendents  for  these  insti- 
tutions whose  only  qualification  for  the  position 
lay  in  their  unfitness  for  anything  else.  Political 


REGULATION  OF  "HOMES."  229 

blockheads,  dozy  bankrupts,  or  broken-down  spend- 
thrifts are  caught  up  and  given  the  position  of  an 
overseer  out  of  "  charity,"  while  the  invalids  and 
needy  poor  are  for  the  same  reason  placed  under 
an  incompetent's  care.  Such  superintendents 
could  not,  if  they  would,  make  the  place  a  home 
for  the  inmates,  and  are  perpetually  annoying 
them  with  his  careless,  senseless,  or  wilful  disre- 
gard of  their  tastes  and  desires. 

Even  in  those  institutions  where  the  most  able 
overseers  are  found  there  will  be  discontent  aris- 
ing from  the  sense  of  dependence  and  the  wounded 
pride  which  must  be  felt  by  every  worthy  recipi- 
ent of  charity. 

Second :  the  openings  and  anniversaries  are  cele- 
brated with  too  much  pomp  and  ceremony.  When 
a  "  Home  "  has  been  prepared  for  the  reception  of 
inmates,  there  is  a  "  dedication  "  to  which  all  the 
great  men  are  invited,  and  where,  with  bands  of 
music,  feasting,  speeches,  and  perhaps  cannon,  the 
event  is  ushered  in  with  the  greatest  show  of  en- 
thusiasm. The  newspapers  herald  the  birth  of  the 
new  institution,  ministers  preach  upon  it,  and  with 
loud-mouthed  acclamations  the  world  insanely 
hails  it  as  an  evidence  of  human  progress. 

"With  each  anniversary  the  celebration  is  re- 
peated. Orators  tell  the  inmates  how  poor  they 
are,  and  how  kind  are  the  donors,  while  fashion- 
able ladies  flaunt  their  insulting  silks  in  the  faces 


230  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

of  the  dependants,  or  shake  their  perfumed  lace 
handkerchiefs  at  the  prison-like  procession  of  pau- 
pers. 

When  visitors  come  there  is  a  feast  and  a  great 
parade;  and  this  occurs  often,  for  men  strangely 
pride  themselves  on  the  number  of  paupers,  drunk- 
ards, and  cripples  they  have  in  the  community, 
and  invite  every  influential  stranger  to  make  these 
"  Homes  "  a  visit.  On  such  occasions  the  unfortu- 
nate inmates  are  drawn  up  for  inspection,  while 
curious  eyes  note  their  movements  just  as  children 
watch  elephants  in  a  show  of  wild  animals. 

Third:  there  should  be  no  public  meetings  of 
the  board  of  directors  and  no  published  rules. 
The  board  of  directors  of  a  "  Home  "  now  meet  in 
some  hall  or  at  some  fashionable  hotel,  and  there, 
in  the  presence  of  the  reporters  for  the  press  and 
such  other  spectators  as  choose  to  attend,  formally 
vote  that  the  inmates  of  their  institution  "  shall 
not  be  out  evenings,"  or  that  some  other  new  regu- 
lation shall  be  adopted.  All  the  people  for  many 
miles  around  know  of  the  "  resolves  "  of  that  body 
through  the  press,  and  charity  in  the  public  esti- 
mation becomes  a  matter  of  business  to  be  regu- 
lated, resolved,  debated,  voted,  possess  certain  by- 
laws and  humiliating  rules.  The  wishes  of  the 
board  having  been  formally  communicated  to  the 
overseer,  he  procures  a  "  regulation  card,"  on  which 
the  rules  are  plainly  printed,  and  affixes  it  to  the 


OVERSEEING  THE  POOR.  231 

posts,  doors,  corners,  and  gates.  "  Thus  far  slialt 
thou  go  and  no  farther "  is  suggested  by  them ; 
and  even  though  they  be  the  most  simple  rules, 
the  printing  and  posting  of  them  destroys  every 
sense  of  contentment  and  takes  away  every  home 
feeling  which  might  have  existed  before.  It  is  no 
charity  to  cast  the  needy  into  prison 

V. 

A  FEW  examples  may  serve  to  illustrate  this 
subject  further.  I  once  knew  a  worthy  deacon 
who  was  so  noted  for  his  charity  and  sympathy 
that  he  was  made  an  overseer  of  the  poor,  with 
funds  at  his  disposal  and  a  large  salary  for  himself. 
His  whole  business  was  confined  to  the  alleviation 
of  suffering  among  the  poor.  It  so  happened  that 
he  owned  a  tenement  in  which  resided  an  old  lady 
who  was  a  very  industrious,  honest  woman.*  He 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  rent  was  too  small, 
and  notified  the  lady  of  the  advance.  To  this  she 
protested,  saying  that  she  could  not  afford  to  pay  it 
in  her  reduced  circumstances ;  and  finally  told  him 
that  she  should  move  out.  At  this  the  overseer 
of  the  poor  began  to  reason  with  her,  and  after 
estimating  the  cost  of  removing  the  coal  which  was 
just  brought  in,  and  of  moving  her  furniture,  he 
showed  that  the  outlay  would  more  than  balance 

*  Mrs.  Parboly.     See  page  116. 


232  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY: 

the  difference  between  his  rent  and  that  of  his 
neighbor.  This  convinced  her  and  she  kept  the 
tenement,  although  she  was  well  aware  that  the 
owner  cunningly  waited  until  the  winter's  supply 
of  coal  was  in  the  cellar,  and  then  took  advantage 
of  her  situation  to  get  more  rent  for  his  tenement 
than  other  men  received.  This  man  was  himself 
an  "  institution,"  and  showed  the  tendency  of  the 
whole  system.  He  could  give  in  charity,  but  op- 
pressed his  tenants  to  obtain  the  money. 

The  poorhouse  system  in  the  United  States, 
which  creates  an  office  worth  from  $1,000  to  82,000 
a  year,  and  is  the  cause  of  endless  political  squab- 
bles, is  sufficiently  well  known  to  the  public.  All 
those  cases  where  paupers  have  died  from  the  ef- 
fects of  abuse,  where  they  have  been  buried  with- 
out coffins  or  clothing  because  the  grave  was  all 
that  the  town  appropriation  —  five  dollars  for 
funeral  expenses,  —  would  furnish,  and  the  enor- 
mous bills  of  expense  entered  and  paid  each  year 
for  comforts  which  the  paupers  never  received  are 
read  about  and  commented  upon  nearly  every  day. 
Hence  I  pass  over  that  in  silence. 

Two  years  ago  two  benevolent  ladies  of  wealth, 
having  an  earnest  and  honest  desire  to  contribute 
toward  some  charitable  object,  adopted  this  most 
excellent  plan.  A  large  house  was  purchased  and 
fitted  up  with  exquisite  taste  and  at  considerable 
expense,  having  carpets,  gas-lights,  a  piano,  and  all 


CO-OPERATIVE  BOARDING-HOUSE.  233 

the  recent  improvements  in  the  way  of  heating  and 
cooking.  They  then  secured  a  matron  who  was 
well  known  to  the  projectors  as  a  kind  and  efficient 
housekeeper,  and  gave  her  the  entire  control  of 
the  house. 

To  this  house  girls  were  invited  to  come  and 
board  upon  the  co-operative  plan,  each  paying  her 
share  of  the  expenses  at  the  end  of  each  week.  They 
were  all  shop-girls,  whose  earnings  were  small,  and 
who  could  not  find  a  comfortable  boarding-house 
the  price  of  which  was  within  their  means.  By  the 
assistance  of  the  ladies,  who  were  not  —  and  I  think 
are  not  —  known  to  the  boarders,  the  provisions 
were  purchased  at  the  wholesale  prices,  and  the 
cost  of  living  very  much  reduced.  In  this  way 
poor  girls  secured  a  boarding-place  at  a  cheap  rate, 
and  had  a  home  in  which  they  were  all  proprietors 
to  a  certain  extent,  and  where  they  could  receive 
their  company  and  do  their  work  with  the  same 
ease  and  freedom  that  they  would  find  in  their 
own  father's  house.  Even  the  name  of  a  boarding- 
house  was  discarded,  and  the  girls  led  to  regard  the 
place  as  their  private  residence.  No  one,  passing 
the  door  of  that  modest  mansion,  would  ever  dream 
that  poor  sewing-girls  were  able  to  occupy  it,  or 
that  more  than  a  single  quiet  family  resided  there. 
Here  was  true  charity.  By  it  no  laziness  or  im- 
providence was  encouraged,  while  the  assistance 
which  it  gave  to  those  who  partook  of  its  benefits 


• 


234  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

prevented  poverty  and  obviated  the  necessity  of  a 
shameful  life,  making  the  girls  cheerful,  healthy, 
and  permanently  virtuous. 

One  glaring  example  of  the  mismanagement  of 
a  "  Home "  attracted  my  personal  attention  a  few 
years  since,  and  as  it  shows  the  hardships  to  which 
the  natural  aristocrats  of  the  world  are  subjected 
through  the  jealous  rivalry  of  the  usurping  line  of 
money-kings,  I  feel  that  it  should  be  inserted 
here.  During  the  war  with  the  Southern  States 
there  were  established  in  the  cities  of  the  North 
a  class  of  institutions  called  "  Soldiers'  Homes." 
In  that  movement  the  city  of  Boston  was  a 
leader.  Eev.  Phineas  Stowe,  the  "  sailors'  friend," 
with  the  assistance  of  a  number  of  benevolent 
ladies,  —  women  being  considered  of  little  con- 
sequence, the  press  is  not  supposed  to  give  their 
names,  —  started  the  enterprise  of  establishing  a 
"  Home  "  where  wounded  soldiers  would  receive  the 
best  of  care  and  more  skilled  medical  attendance 
than  they  would  have  at  their  own  homes.  This 
project  did  not  meet  with  much  favor  until  the 
attention  of  the  city  authorities  was  called  to  it, 
through  negotiations  for  a  building  which  the  city 
owned  and  which  Mr.  Stowe  wished  to  secure. 
The  city  council  then  voted  to  give  the  use  of  the 
building  for  the  purpose,  and  as  their  proceedings 
were  all  published  the  attention  of  the  public  was 
called  to  it.  At  the  same  time  the  managers  were 


SOLDIERS'  HOMES.  235 

obliged  to  ask  for  more  assistance,  owing  to  the 
large  number  of  applications  coming  in  from  de- 
serving soldiers. 

The  soldiers  were  very  popular  then;  and  the 
politicians,  seeing  that  there  was  a  chance  to  ride 
into  office  upon  that  hobby,  slyly  and  surely  un- 
dermined the  influence  of  the  originators,  at  the 
same  time  squeezing  themselves  into  office.  A 
board  of  directors,  an  executive  committee,  a  long 
list  of  vice-presidents,  together  with  numerous  offi- 
cials, were  elected,  or  rather  proclaimed,  to  have 
control  of  this  "  Home."  This  made  it  at  once  a 
great  political  machine,  and  with  man- ellous  zeal 
the  aspirants  for  office  kept  tugging  away  at  the 
ponderous  crank.  The  building  was  one  of  the  fin- 
est mansions  in  an  aristocratic  portion  of  the  city, 
and  its  dedication  was  one  of  the  most  important 
events  of  the  day.  Great  men,  great  speeches, 
great  guns,  great  bands  of  music,  and  great  crowds. 
It  is  said  the  enthusiasm  was  so  great  that  the 
soldiers  present  who  had  wounds  wept  for  joy, 
while  those  who  had  none  wept  for  shame.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  the  wounded  soldiers  were 
praised,  applauded,  and  feasted  until  they  thought 
the  "  whole  world  had  gone  crazy."  I  do  not  say 
that  it  was  anything  more  than  they  deserved,  but 
it  was  a  love  far  too  hot  to  retain  its  fervor. 

In  the  selection  of  a  superintendent  the  board 
of  managers  were  rather  unfortunate.  For  the  first 


236  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY 

one  did  not  fulfil  either  his  own  or  his  friends  ex- 
pectations, while  the  second  was  discharged  for  some 
fault  known  to  the  board.  It  happened  that  one  of 
the  active  workers  in  this  enterprise  had  a  friend 
who  was  an  "  old  chum  "  in  the  stage-driving  busi- 
ness. The  claims  of  this  "  old  chum  "  were  success- 
fully advocated  before  the  managers,  and  the  profes- 
sional stage-driver  installed  as  third  superintendent. 
Now  the  two  "chums"  were  naturally  very  unlike. 
The  patriotic  member  of  the  committee  was  a  natu- 
ral aristocrat,  and  fought  his  claim  to  nobility  with 
such  perseverance  that  he  had  risen  from  a  stage- 
driver  to  be  one  of  the  most  respected  financiers 
and  railroad  managers  in  the  country.  He  was 
an  able,  generous  man,  and  was  looking  forward 
with  reasonable  hope  to  a  seat  in  Congress.  But 
the  other  was  a  man  who  was  said  to  have  reached 
his  level  as  a  stage-driver ;  and  one  who  was  as 
much  out  of  place  above  his  position  as  others  are 
below  it.  He  was  most  singularly  unfitted  for  the 
position,  from  the  fact  that  his  sympathies  were 
all  against  the  cause  for  which  the  soldiers  fought, 
and  he  could  have  nothing  in  common  with  them. 
What  they  respected  he  despised,  and  what  they 
loved  he  hated. 

As  the  State  had  now  come  in  with  its  assist- 
ance,* he  was  given  a  salary  of  $  1,300  a  year  for 
himself  and  family,  besides  their  expenses,  and  had 

*  Appropriation  of  $20,000. 


POLITICAL  SUPERINTENDENTS.  237 

the  entire  control  of  the  establishment.  Keeping 
the  expenses  down  as  low  as  he  could  and  avoid 
any  loud  complaints,  he  managed  to  save  five  hun- 
dred dollars  more  during  the  year  than  his  prede- 
cessor had  done,  and  that  amount  was  generously 
added  to  his  salary.  The  second  year,  "  the  State 
gave  another  appropriation,"  and 

"All  went  merry  as  a  marriage-bell." 

(This  quotation  applies  to  the  superintendent  and 
his  political  supporters, —  not  by  any  means  to  the 
soldiers.)  In  the  spring  of  1867  there  were  six- 
teen of  the  maimed  soldiers  in  the  "  Home  "  who 
had  so  far  recovered  as  to  desire  a  change.  They 
wished  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  earn  their  own 
living.  To  these  broken  and  scarred  young  men 
the  "  Home "  offered  no  inducements",  nor  made 
any  provision  for  their  future  livelihood.  It  had 
accomplished  much  as  an  alleviator  of  bodily  suffer- 
ing, but  it  was  to  leave  those  who  came  under  its 
roof  as  destitute  when  they  left  it  as  they  were 
when  they  arrived.  Under  such  circumstances, 
those  who  had  recovered  sufficiently  were  anxious 
about  their  future. 

By  the  assistance  of  friends  six  of  them  secured 
scholarships  in  the  New  England  Conservatory  of 
Music,  of  which  Mr.  Tourjee  was  the  director,  and 
in  which  their  tuition  was  reduced  to  half  price. 
Ten  of  them  were  admitted  gratis  into  £he  classes 
of  G.  A.  Sawyer's  Commercial  College,  and  began 
their  studies  with  the  most  lively  zeal. 


238  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

When  their  purpose  became  known,  however,  the 
superintendent  took  a  sudden  dislike  to  them,  and 
seemed  to  regard  their  efforts  to  get  an  education 
as  a  personal  insult  to  him,  and  endeavored, 
through  the  application  of  the  State  law,  excluding 
from  the  "  Home  "  such  as  received  State  aid  or 
government  pension,  to  expel  these  students.  But 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  to  whom  the  law  gave  the 
power  to  send  twenty-five  soldiers  to  the  "  Home," 
delegated  these  sixteen,  and  it  was  supposed  that 
they  would  be  allowed  to  board  there,  and  receive 
medical  aid  during  their  course  of  instruction. 

But  the  superintendent  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  they  should  be  driven  out  before  the  course 
was  complete,  and  for  reasons  that  cannot  be  ex- 
plained, by  reference  to  any  laudable  motive,  began 
to  insult  them,  by  taunting  and  otherwise  annoy- 
ing them.  He  called  them  "  beggars,"  and  "  greedy 
livers  upon  charity,"  or  words  to  that  effect,  and 
spared  no  pains  to  shame  them  into  submission. 
But  they  had  begun  a  work  upon  which  all  their 
hopes  of  life  depended,  and  with  the  counsel  of 
friends,  they  determined  to  stay  until  they  could 
go  out  free  men,  —  not  beggars. 

I  will  not  record  in  detail  the  actions  of  that 
superintendent,  as  they  involve  others  in  his  dis- 
grace ;  but  so  determined  was  he  that  those  young 
men  should  not  have  the  education  that  they 
desired,  that  he  pulled  all  the  political  wires  at  his 


ILL-TREATMENT  OF  PATRIOTS.  239 

command,  and  with  other  secret  means,  secured 
the  alliance  of  a  few  prominent  politicians,  who 
promised  to  sustain  him  in  whatever  he  should 
undertake  to  do.  So,  on  the  plea  of  insubordina- 
tion, he  ordered  the  boys  to  leave  the  "  Home,"  and 
on  their  refusal  to  go  without  an  order  from  the 
Governor,  at  whose  request  they  were  there,  he 
called  in  a  posse  of  police  to  enforce  his  orders. 
Then,  without  resistance,  and  after  one  little  fellow 
had  said  to  the  police-sergeant,  "  We  have  been 
soldiers,  and  know  our  duty ;  we  will  not  make 
any  disturbance,"  they  were  taken  to  the  station- 
house,  and  stayed  in  that  receptacle  for  drunkards 
and  vagrants  during  the  night.  Strange  spectacle  ! 
Wounded  patriots,  with  one  leg  or  one  arm,  or 
otherwise  maimed,  quartered  in  a  jail  in  the  liberty- 
loving  city  of  Boston  for  no  offence  but  that  of 
attempting  lawfully  and  peacefully  to  get  sufficient 
education  to  earn  their  own  livelihood  ! 

Then  the  friends  of  the  soldiers,  to  some  of 
whom  the  superintendent  of  the  "Home"  had 
often  applied  the  epithet  of  "  common  scrub-girls," 
undertook  to  do  what  the  State  Institution,  with- 
out a  political  battle,  would  not  do.  One  wealthy 
lady,  whose  goodness  cannot  be  too  highly  praised, 
took  four  of  the  boys  into  her  house  and  treated 
them  as  her  own  sons,  while  they  pursued  their 
studies. 

The  whole  number  fulfilled  the  expectations  of 


240  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

their  wannest  friends,  and  secured  good  positions 
when  they  left  the  schools.  To-day  every  one  of 
them  is  making  his  mark  in  his  chosen  profes- 
sion, and  I  expect  to  live  long  enough  to  see  some 
of  them  among  the  greatest  and  most  influential 
"business  men  of  that  city. 

Meanwhile,  the  "  Home  "  gradually  falling  into 
disrepute,  and  unable  to  obtain  a  State  appropria- 
tion for  the  impostors  and  beggars  whom  it  harbored 
under  the  pretence  that  they  were  soldiers,  closed 
its  career  in  silence  and  disgrace ;  having  an  end 
sadly  in  contrast  with  its  brilliant  beginning. 
Would  that  I  might  record  the  end  of  every  other 
institution  of  the  kind  which,  for  political  power, 
administers  temporary  aid,  and  prevents  its  in- 
mates from  ever  becoming  useful  and  ornamental 
members  of  society ! 

VI. 

THERE -are  three  classes  of  charitable  institu- 
tions that  cannot  be  denominated  "  Homes  "  wThich 
are  intimately  connected  with  the  subject  of  this 
chapter,  namely,  educational,  moral,  and  religious 
charitable  institutions;  such  as  are  endowed  by 
will,  or  otherwise,  in  order  to  admit  persons  who 
could  not  otherwise  afford  to  attend.  That  such 
institutions  are  founded  for  a  good  purpose,  and 
accomplish  much  toward  the  elevation  of  mankind, 


FOUNDING  COLLEGES.  241 

there  is  no  doubt;  but  the  question  sometimes 
arises,  "  Does  the  end  justify  the  means  ? "  and 
in  many  cases  we  are  obliged  to  decide  in  the 
negative.  A  few  months  ago  one  of  the  wealthi- 
est clothing-merchants  in  the  United  States  left  a 
very  large  sum  of  money  for  the  purpose  of  found- 
ing a  Female  College.  The  conditions  in  the  will, 
however,  were  such  that  the  college  could  not  be 
of  any  use  to  the  present  generation.  Taking  into 
consideration  the  fact  that  he  made  his  money 
from  the  work  of  thousands  of  poor  sewing-girls, 
whose  wages  were  hardly  sufficient  for  daily  sus- 
tenance, it  seems  quite  unjust  that  the  money 
which  they  have  earned  should  be  bequeathed  to  a 
college  which  will  benefit  neither  them  nor  their 
immediate  posterity.  The  sum  of  the  whole  mat- 
ter is  this,  —  the  sewing-girls  have  been  made, 
with  well-earned  wages,  to  endow  a  college,  bear- 
ing their  employer's  name,  and  in  the  construction, 
regulation,  or  benefits  of  which  they  and  theirs 
have  no  voice. 

Moral  charitable  institutions  are  often  termed 
"Brotherhoods";  and  include  such  organizations 
as  the  Odd  Fellows,  Masons,  Knights  of  Pythias, 
Grand  Army,  Knights  and  Daughters  of  St.  Cris- 
pin, and  kindred  societies.  The  present  structure 
of  society  renders  such  associations  necessary,  and 
they  seem  to  be  the  only  organizations  which  start 
with  the  right  foundations.  The  Odd  Fellows  and 
11  p 


242  NATURE'S  AKISTOCEACY. 

Masons  instil  the*  principle  of  natural  equality,  and 
give  alms  to  their  suffering  brethren  as  though  the 
recipients  were  justly  entitled  to  them,  and  could 
claim  them  as  a  matter  of  right.  Hence  the  great 
popularity  and  usefulness  of  those  excellent  orders. 

It  has  been  urged  against  the  Knights  of  St 
Crispin,  that  they  were  unreasonable  in  demand- 
ing the  same  pay  for  a  poor  workman  that  they 
do  for  a  good  one.  The  persons  who  make  these 
objections  do  not  appear  to  understand  that  it  costs 
the  poor  workman  just  as  much  to  live  as  it  does 
a  person  who  is  skilled ;  and  are  not  willing  to 
acknowledge  that  the  skilled  workman  in  that 
order  gets  as  much  less  than  his  value  as  the  un- 
skilled hand  receives  more. 

Every  order  which  has  for  its  fundamental 
principle  the  right  of  all  men  to  a  livelihood,  and 
the  necessity  of  brotherly  love  and  charity,  has 
begun  at  the  foundation,  and  cannot  fail  to  benefit 
society. 

Charitable  religious  institutions  are,  as  a  general 
rule,  beneficial  in  the  existing  circumstances,  and 
no  one  with  an  earnest  desire  for  human  welfare 
would  wish  them  abolished.  But  to  this  there  is 
one  prominent  exception.  I  have  no  fault  to  find 
with  a  church  as  a  church ;  but  I  make  deliberate 
war  upon  the  "church  kitchens."  It  is  a  little 
doubtful  if 'the  "house  of  God"  is  just  such  an 
edifice  as  it  ought  to  be ;  when  its  carpets  are  too 


CHURCH  "KITCHENS."  243 

rich,  its  cushions  too  soft,  its  music  too  delicate, 
and  the  preaching  too  profound  for  the  poor, 
coarse-dressed  man  or  woman  who  strays  within 
its  courts.  But  if  divines  agree  that  the  poor 
should  take  their  religion  from  a  different  loaf, 
and  that  the  pouring  of  money  into  a  man's 
trousers  pockets  puts  brains  into  his  head,  it  may 
be  presumption  in  me  to  question  their  decision. 
Yet  I  venture  to  assert  that  the  audiences  who 
attend  these  "  branch  chapels,"  or  "  church  kitch- 
ens," and  who  are  provided  with  that  edifice  by 
the  wealthy  society,  because  the  church  itself  is 
too  nice  a  place  for  them  to  enter,  are  as  capable 
of  conducting  themselves  properly,  and  of  appre- 
ciating an  able  sermon,  as  one  half  of  the  giddy 
"  doughheads  "  who  can  be  seen  every  Sunday  in 
their  damask-decked  front  pews. 

If  there  is  any  sin  in  the  world,  those  preachers 
•who  pretend  to  expound  God's  word,  knowing 
their  mental  and  physical  unfitness  for  it,  will 
have  something  to  answer  for  at  the  judgment- 
seat.  Especially  guilty  are  those  who  send  such 
inefficient  instruments  to  do  a  work  which  they 
well  know  the  minister  to  be  incapable  of  per- 
forming. It  is  deliberate  wickedness  to  deal  out 
mouldy  bread  from  a  table  which  lies  heaped  with 
the  best  and  richest  viands  of  His  eternal  goodness. 

This,  however,  is  done  weekly  in  the  "  kitchens  " ; 
and,  as  if  the  poor  in  worldly  goods  needed  poor 


244  NATURE'S  ARISTOCEACT. 

preaching  and  poor  religion,  a  house  is  built  for 
that  purpose,  in  which  nothing  but  the  poor  article 
is  dealt  out.  The  influence  of  these  measures 
tends  strongly  to  drive  away  those  whose  strength 
of  mind  influences  their  associates,  and  to  disgust 
the  great -mass  of  the  poorer  classes  with  every- 
thing connected  with  religion. 

The  exhausted  and  worn  laborers,  who  enter 
the  church  after  a  week  of  unremitting  toil,  need 
stimulus,  while  they  who  have  lived  in  ease  will 
require  only  plain  food  for  the  Sabbath  day.  The 
tired  workman  needs  a  more  talented  man  to 
preach  to  him  than  is  required  by  those  who  are 
fresh.  But  church  "  kitchens,"  as  a  rule,  have  none 
of  the  mental  food  which  the  weary  can  relish, 
and  are  dull,  monotonous,  prosy,  unmeaning,  and 
soulless. 

VII. 

IT  often  happens  that  the  most  charitable  are 
never  heard  of  by  the  world,  while  those  who 
stand  between  the  giver  and  receiver  are  the  sub- 
jects of  unstinted  praise.  I  have  often  been  re- 
minded of  this,  when  I  have  seen  a  few  well- 
disposed  individuals  endeavoring  to  secure  the 
funds  or  "  contributions  in  kind  "  for  some  benev- 
olent enterprise.  It  is  the  custom  in  the  city  of 
Boston  to  give  Thanksgiving,  Christmas,  or  New 
Year's  dinners  to  the  poor  people,  and  a  committee 


CHARITABLE  MARKETMEN.  245 

of  several  persons  undertake  the  management  on 
these  occasions.  The  first,  and  often  the  only 
place  to  which  these  committees  apply  is  at  the 
great  market  around  Faneuil  Hall.  There,  among 
those  marketmen  who  rise  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  work  until  six  in  the  evening,  these 
committees  usually  obtain  all  the  contributions 
which  they  desire.  Beef,  pork,  chickens,  turkeys, 
fish,  and  oysters,  in  immense  quantities,  are  always 
given,  and  although  there  are  hundreds  of  such 
dinners  during  the  year,  these  honest,  industrious 
marketmen  never  refuse  when  they  are  persuaded 
that  the  cause  is  a  good  one.  Yet  the  world  sel- 
dom hears  of  their  charity;  nor  do  the  news- 
papers applaud  their  generosity.  On  the  contrary, 
the  public  is  ever  complaining  that  it  has  to  pay 
such  high  prices  at  the  markets,  and  wonders  why 
the  marketmen  do  not  get  rich.  This  is  also  the 
case  with  Fulton  Market,  in  New  York,  where  the 
appeals  for  material  aid  never  cease,  and  where  the 
newspapers  never  tire  of  praising  the  collectors  of 
these  gifts  for  their  enterprising  charity. 

VIII. 

I  HAVE  often  wondered  why  there  had  been 
found  no  benevolent  individual  whose  interest  in 
the  horse-car  drivers  and  conductors  was  such  as 
to  lead  to  a  bequest  in  their  favor.  From  six 


246  NATURE'S  AEISTOCEACY. 

o'clock  in  the  morning  until  midnight  they  pursue 
their  wearisome,  monotonous  task,  being  more 
exhausted  after  the  same  number  of  hours  than 
are  the  laborers  in  the  field.  Accidents  happen  to 
them,  and  no  one  seems  to  care.  They  are  paid 
very  poorly,  but  it  attracts  no  comment ;  they  are 
deprived  of  employment  when  aged  or  crippled, 
and  receive  no  aid. 

Again,  another  class  have  been  wholly  over- 
looked by  the  founders  of  charitable  institutions, 
namely,  the  waiter-girls  and  cooks  in  the  bakeries 
and  confectionery  establishments,  who  work  fifteen 
hours  a  day.  At  present  they  form  a  very  respect- 
able portion  of  the  female  employees  in  Philadel- 
phia, Albany,  New  York,  and  Boston,  receiving 
from  two  to  three  dollars  a  week ;  and  yet,  like  the 
female  printers,  they  are  not  regarded  by  the  public 
as  entitled  to  any  respect  or  needing  any  assistance. 
They  earn  as  much  more  than  they  receive  and 
are  as  often  in  want  as  are  other  laborers,  yet  none 
of  their  unpaid  wages  have  been  returned  to  them 
in  "  Homes,"  colleges,  or  pensions. 

It  will  not  be  expedient  for  me  to  go  into  an 
enumeration  of  all  the  classes  who  "give  every- 
thing and  get  nothing,"  for  their  name  is  legion. 
The  world  is  full  of  injustice,  and  we  can  hope  to 
annihilate  but  a  small  portion  of  it.  We  are,  how- 
ever, under  no  less  obligation  to  eradicate  as  much 
of  it  as  we  can. 


CHAPTEK   XIII. 

NATUKAL  AND  UNNATURAL  AEISTOCRATS. 

Representatives  of  Nature.  —  Who  save  the  Communities.  — 
Examples  of  Nobility.  —  Names  of  Prominent  American 
Aristocrats.  —  The  Darker  Side  of  the  Picture.  —  Anecdotes 
of  Unnatural  Aristocracy.  —  No  Peace  with  Ill-Gotten  Gains. 

I. 

IT  is  refreshing,  after  long  contemplation  of  vice, 
cruelty,  and  injustice,  to  turn  our  eyes  for  a 
time  upon  the  opposite  picture,  and  thoughtfully 
ponder  upon  wisdom,  benevolence,  and  intellectual 
greatness.  It  is  inspiring  to  see,  through  the 
clouds  of  battle,  some  portions  of  the  great  army 
scaling  heights  and  winning  victories,  though  the 
beholder  may  have  been  already  hopelessly  de- 
feated. Some  of  Nature's  noblemen  do  win  the 
battles  of  life,  and  are  able  to  reap  all  the  advan- 
tages which  success  vouchsafes  ;  and  but  for  their 
presence  in  the  executive  departments,  the  halls 
of  legislation,  the  courts  of  law,  the  marts  of  trade, 
and  the  higher  social  circles,  the  world  would  be 
wholly  lost  to  righteousness  and  God.  They  are 


248  NATUKE'S  AEISTOCRACY. 

"  the  salt  of  the  earth,"  and,  sprinkled  here  and 
there  through  society,  they  prevent  its  entire  cor- 
ruption, although  in  some  localities  even  the 
"salt"  fails  to  save  it. 

These  great  representatives  of  Nature's  royal 
family  show  by  their  ability  and  goodness  what 
might  be  expected  of  all  their  relations  on  the  side 
of  genius,  could  the  rightful  claims  of  all  be  suc- 
cessfully defended.  Those  men  and  women  to 
whom  Nature  has  given  that  mental  momentum 
called  genius,  as  a  signet  of  her  favor,  have  given 
to  the  world  all  its  civilization,  all  its  enlighten- 
ment, and  everything  of  value  which  it  possesses. 
In  all  great  emergencies,  when  nations  are  in  dan- 
ger, there  is  no  inquiry  for  a  moneyed  or  family 
aristocracy,  no  desire  for  persons  whom  circum- 
stances have  made,  but  for  men  in  whose  souls 
there  is  natural  greatness.  It  matters  not  from 
what  rank  or  station  —  whether  a  "cow  ranch" 
or  a  palace  —  provided  they  are  inspired  with  the 
zeal,  courage,  and  discernment  necessary  to  manage 
the  helm.  Such  men  almost  without  exception 
appear  on  the  field  unexpectedly. 

Mankind  will  not  go  to  Nature  and  learn  of  her ; 
so  they  disregard  the  constantly  recurring  exam- 
ples, and  look  for  leadership  first  in  other  aristocra- 
cies and  in  the  highest  social  circles  of  mankind. 
But  it  is  seldom  that  the  man  for  great  emergen- 
cies is  to  be  found  there.  He  is  stowed  away  in 


NATURE'S  REPRESENTATIVES.  249 

some  sly  and  humble  corner,  —  Nature  knows 
where,  —  and  when  the  occasion  calls  he  pops  into 
notice  like  the  puppets  in  Punch  and  Judy.  Some- 
times people  laugh,  and  think  that  he  is  a  real 
puppet  because  of  his  antecedents ;  but  time  and 
mighty  events  show  them  their  mistake. 

It  is  no  proof,  however,  that  because  the  number 
of  successful  ones  is  so  small  that  the  number 
of  great  men  and  women  is  also  small.  For  who 
knows  how  many  Cromwells,  Washingtons,  Web- 
sters,  are  held  in  reserve  for  occasions  which  never 
come,  for  revolutions  which  do  not  occur.  When 
from  an  army  of  a  million  there  springs  one  leader 
able  to  insure  victory,  it  is  no  proof  that  there  are 
not  a  thousand  others  equally  capable,  of  whom 
the  world  never  hears.  So  in  civil  life  there  are 
men  of  science  who  make  no  discoveries,  men  of 
letters  who  write  no  masterpieces,  men  of  financial 
ability  who  have  no  money,  benevolent  men  and 
women  who  have  nothing  to  give,  women  of  culture, 
oratorical  power,  statesmanship,  and  judgment  who 
never  leave  the  kitchen,  —  all  for  the  lack  of  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  use  the  tallents  which 
God  has  given  them.  Like  the  great  marble-quarry 
which  is  full  of  beautiful  statues  and  imposing 
monuments,  it  can  be  of  no  use  to  the  world  until 
the  layers  of  earth  are  removed,  the  stone  broken, 
and  the  chisel  applied.  Although  thousands  lie 
unnoticed  below,  let  us  be  thankful  that  any  of  the 
11* 


250  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

inspiring  statues  have  seen  the  light ;  and  may  the 
gratification  which  we  feel  while  gazing  on  those 
already  quarried  and  utilized  make  us  the  more 
zealous  in  the  work  of  exhuming  others  ! 


II. 

A  FEW  months  ago  a  poor  girl  who  had  no  home, 
and  had  lost  her  situation  as  a  seamstress,  applied 
to  the  great  natural  orator  whose  name  is  connect- 
ed with  so  many  modern  reforms,  and  requested 
him  to  give  her  some  assistance.  He  was  generous 
enough  to  give  her  money,  but  with  it  he  gave  such 
words  of  comfort  and  such  useful  advice  that  she 
went  away  from  his  door  feeling  as  if  he  had  given 
her  a  fortune.  She  afterwards  said  to  me :  "  O,  I 
cannot  express  my  gratitude  to  that  great  man, 
not  for  the  money  he  gave  me,  but  for  the  direc- 
tions which  he  said  would  ever  prevent  my  being 
in  want  again  !  I  can  work  and  suffer  cheerfully 
now,  for  I  see  that  there  is  hope  even  for  me." 

A  factory-girl  called  upon  the  family  of  the 
well-known  Senator  and  General  from  Massachu- 
setts on  a  matter  of  business,  and  she  was  received 
with  all  those  courtesies  which  mark  the  character 
of  every  noble  man  or  woman.  But  there  was  a 
lady  visitor  at  the  house,  whose  aristocracy  was 
founded  entirely  upon  the  dollar,  and  as  she  came 
sweeping  into  the  parlor,  and  noticed  the  presence 


THE  TRUE   SPIRIT.  251 

of  the  humble  factory-operative,  she  curled  her 
lips  and  scowled  with  contempt;  at  the  same 
time,  gathering  up  her  rich  silks  and  haughtily 
inarching  from  the  room. 

I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  look  of  pity  which 
came  upon  the  face  of  the  kind-hearted  wife  of 
that  great  man  as  she  gazed  after  the  retreating 
bubble  of  conceited  pride.  Neither  shall  I  cease 
to  rehearse  to  myself  those  burning,  cutting  words 
of  rebuke  which  came  from  the  good  woman's 
lips  when  the  haughty  heir  of  a  dastard's  fortune 
appeared  at  the  tea-table :  "  The  poor  are  betr- 
ter  than  the  proud,  the  industrious  better  than 
the  idle,  the  producer  is  of  more  importance  than 
the  spendthrift,  and  a  woman  in  calico  is  as 
great  in  the  sight  of  God  as  she  that  trails  her 
laces  and  silks." 

In  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  in  1850,  there  was  a  wealthy 
banker  who  had  retired  from  an  active  life  in  New 
York,  and  who  seemed  at  that  tune  wholly  resigned 
to  a  life  of  quiet,  unostentatious  pleasure.  Every 
afternoon  he  walked  through  the  low  streets  of  the 
city  among  the  families  of  the  iron-workers,  and 
would  step  in  at  this  door  and  that  to  inquire  after 
the  welfare  of  the  tenants.  None  of  them  ever 
knew  where  he  lived  or  what  his  station  in  life 
until  after  his  death,  although  the  greater  part  of 
his  time  during  the  last  years  of  his  life  was  spent 
among  those  poor  people.  He  always  had  money 


252  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

to  relieve  real  suffering  and  shrewdness  to  detect 
an  impostor,  and  his  face  became  as  dear  to  the 
poor  denizens  of  hovels  as  it  was  to  his  own 
family.  Every  day,  as  the  hour  arrived  when 
he  usually  made  his  appearance,  the  women 
would  put  on  their  best  dresses,  carefully  sweep 
the  rooms,  and  send  the  impatient  children  out 
upon  the  door-steps  to  welcome  the  visitor  with 
shouts  and  clapping  of  hands.  Some  of  these 
children  grew  up  under  his  fatherly  care,  and 
many  were  assisted  by  him  in  obtaining  an  edu- 
cation or  in  learning  a  trade  who  are  now  in- 
fluential members  of  society.  He  regarded  the 
poor  of  a  certain  street  as  his  especial  charge, 
and  his  contributions,  advice,  remonstrances,  and 
daily  presence  changed  the  appearance  of  the  en- 
tire street.  It  became  clean  and  tidy,  the  chil- 
dren more  neatly  dressed,  the  faces  of  men  and 
women  were  more  cheerful,  and  the  police-offi- 
cers whose  beats  crossed  that  street  declared,  at 
his  death,  that  after  his  charitable  visits  became 
regular  they  had  not  been  obliged  to  make  a  sin- 
gle arrest  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  particular 
locality. 

He  was  a  prince ;  and  the  good  he  accomplished 
will  never  cease  to  affect  society.  He  raised  the 
fallen,  cured  the  sick,  educated  the  ignorant, 
cheered  the  downcast,  and  gave  to  the  needy. 
What  more  could  man  do  ? 


NATURE'S  NOBLEMEN  253 

There  are  a  few  nobles  toward  whom  the  eyes 
of  humanity  now  turn,  who,  although  they  have 
doubtless  sometimes  succumbed  to  avarice  and 
condescended  to  occasional  injustice,  have  well 
proven  their  right  to  the  positions  which  they 
hold.  Among  the  living  representatives  of  this 
class  in  our  land  will  be  found  General  Benj. 
F.  Butler,  as  a  defender  of  the  factory-girls  ;  Gen- 
eral Henry  Wilson,  as  a  supporter  of  working-men's 
rights ;  General  0.  0.  Howard,  as  the  adv.ocate  of 
freedmen's  education ;  Theodore  Tilton,  as  an  ear- 
nest, though  inconsiderate  advocate  of  woman's  suf- 
frage ;  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  as  a  liberal  thinker 
and  champion  of  free  speech ;  Hon.  William  H. 
Sexvard,  as  a  statesman ;  George  Peabody,  as  a  friend 
of  humanity  ;•  Longfellow,  Whittier,  and  William 
Cullen  Bryant,  as  poets  ;  General  N.  P.  Banks,  as 
a  successful  workingman ;  General  U.  S.  Grant, 
as  a  soldier ;  and  Horace  Greeley,  as  an  editor. 
To  these  might  be  added  a  large  number  of 
"lesser  lights";  but  the  communities  in  which 
they  reside  know  them,  and  will  be  reminded 
of  them  when  these  pages  are  read.  Upon  such 
men  no  war  is  made.  They  have  a  "  divine  right " 
to  the  thrones  they  occupy,  as  they  seem  to 
have  been  made  for  the  express  purpose  of  fill- 
ing the  influential  stations  in  which  we  now  find 
them. 


254  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

III. 

HISTORIANS  do  not  tire  of  praising  Cincinnatus, 
the  Roman  warrior  and  statesman,  who  saved  his 
country,  and,  when  his  task  was  done,  left  every 
office  to  work  in  his  garden.  Yet  there  are  men 
in  this  day  who  make  the  same  sacrifices,  and  who 
leave  public  circles  from  which  it  is  as  difficult  to 
break  away  now  as  in  the  days  of  that  illustrious 
Eoman.  The  son  of  a  very  wealthy  family,  having 
acquired  a  complete  college  education  and  inherited 
his  immense  fortune,  had  the  good  sense  to  see 
that  his  nature  was  such  that  he  could  not  remain 
in  the  aristocratic  circles  of  Boston  and  be  happy. 
There  was  nothing  in  common  between  him  and 
his  frivolous,  fastidious  associates,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  leave  the  mansion  and  the  counting- 
rooms  for  a  home  upon  a  farm.  In  order  to  fit 
himself  thoroughly  for  liis  chosen  work  he  went 
into  the  interior  of  Vermont,  and  hired  out  to  an 
old  farmer  for  a  year.  There,  without  making 
known  his  great  wealth,  wearing  the  coarse  frock, 
cowhide  boots,  old  hat,  and  coarse  flannel  in 
which  his  co-laborers  dressed,  he  diligently  pursued 
his  laborious  search  for  practical  knowledge.  He 
ploughed  and  sowed,  hoed  and  trained,  cut  the  hay 
and  gathered  it  into  the  barn,  entered  the  grain- 
field  to  reap,  dug  potatoes,  cut  down  the  corn, 
cared  for  the  horses  and  cows  in  winter,  with  not 


THE  RICH  FARMERS.  255 

a  single  murmur  or  a  sign  of  shirking  in  any  way 
his  share  of  the  hardest  and  coarsest  duties  of  the 
farm. 

When  his  year  of  labor  was  done,  and  he  con- 
sidered himself  well  acquainted  with  all  the  duties 
necessary  to  cany  on  a  large  farm,  he  purchased 
one  in  the  interior  of  Massachusetts,  married  a 
well-educated,  but  penniless  orphan-girl,  and  settled 
down  to  a  peaceful  farmer's  life.  To-day  he  can 
be  found  on  his  farm,  among  a  number  of  well-paid 
and  happy  laborers,  following  perseveringly  his 
favorite  avocation,  although  his  old  companions 
are  flying  hither  and  thither  like  moths  in  the 
halls  of  city  trade,  attracted  by  this  glitter  and  then 
by  that,  and  being  scorched  by  all. 

I  recall  a  young  woman  of  great  wealth,  and 
who  by  her  relationships  was  entitled  to  the  high- 
est place  in  the  fashionable  society  of  the  great 
city.  Back  in  the  country  there  was  a  little  vil- 
lage where  she  loved  to  go,  and  where  she  took 
the  greatest  pleasure  in  visiting  the  farm-houses, 
riding  in  carts,  and  caring  for  a  favorite  pony.  She 
loved  to  be  among  the  laboring  people,  and  with 
the  farmer,  the  blacksmith,  or  the  carpenter  she 
felt  equally  at  home.  The  free  air,  the  hills, 
the  mountain  streams,  the  cattle,  the  school- 
children, the  fruit,  and  the  grain  all  had  a  charm 
for  her  which  she  could  not  find  in  the  city. 
^Nevertheless  she  was  ever  the  brightest  one  of 


256  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

her  circle  when  she  appeared  in  fashionable  life ; 
and  had  such  an  attractive,  winning  manner  as 
to  command  the  attention  and  respect  of  every 
one. 

When  she  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  she 
must  many  and  adopt  some  settled  plan  for  life, 
it  was  indeed  a  hard  question  to  decide,  —  the 
country  or  the  city.  But  the  betrothed,  the  rela- 
tives, the  property  were  all  in  the  city,  and  she 
reluctantly  turned  back  to  the  pavements  and  side- 
walks. She  wept  when  she  bade  the  old  scenes 
farewell  with  which  she  had  spent  so  many  pleas- 
ant days,  and  sobbed  as  she  glanced  in  at  the 
forge  of  the  blacksmith  where  her  pony  had  so 
often  been  shod. 

After  marriage  she  and  her  husband  went  to 
England,  and  while  there  they  were  made  the 
guests  of  an  English  lord.  It  happened  one  day 
that  there  was  an  agricultural  show  near  the  lord's 
residence,  and  at  her  request  the  party  attended 
the  exercises.  The  farmers  were  ploughing  when 
the  titled  party  entered  the  grounds ;  and  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  people,  and  especially  of  the 
lord,  this  lady  took  a  plough  and  held  it  across  the 
field,  turning  the  cleanest  and  neatest  furrow  of  all 
the  competitors. 

Fitted  by  nature  for  a  farmer's  wife,  happiest 
among  rural  scenes  and  among  country  people,  she 
still  shines  on  in  the  city,  —  a  dutiful  wife,  a  kind 


THREE  NATURAL  ARISTOCRATS.  257 

mother,  and  a  discontented  member  of  fashionable 
aristocracy. 

I  cannot  leave  the  subject  of  true  aristocracy 
without  making  reference  to  three  examples  of 
natural  nobility  among  those  who  have  gone  to 
their  graves.  Would  that  I  could  refer  to  all,  and 
speak  the  thankfulness  which  I  feel  toward  every- 
one who  has  done  himself  and  his  nation  honor. 
But  the  three  to  whom  I  refer  were  persons  who 
came  within  the  narrow  borders  of  my  acquaint- 
ance, and  of  them  I  may  be  better  able  to  speak. 
Theodore  Parker,  Starr  King,  and  Anson  Burlin- 
game  were  each  of  Nature's  own  line,  and  to  this 
were  added  all  of  the  graces  and  mental  ornaments 
which  culture  and  varied  experience  can  produce. 

Theodore  Parker  in  his  early  life,  while  picking 
berries  to  purchase  his  first  Latin  Grammar,  and 
working  at  odd  jobs  to  obtain  the  rudiments  of 
an  education,  —  afterwards  one  of  the  most  com- 
prehensive and  most  thorough,  —  showed  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  his  natural  ability.  But  it 
was  in  his  later  years,  when  he  had  conquered 
himself  and  undertaken  to  defend  every  injured 
class,  that  his  talents  showed  the  brightest.  Then, 
while  defending  the  secretion  of  Burns,  the  negro 
fugitive,  in  1854;  while  saying  stout  words  for 
the  poor  working-women  of  Boston,  originating 
effective  schemes  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  and 
bravely  defying  any  and  every  law  which  coii- 

Q 


258  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

flicted  with  God's  abiding  decrees,  he  exhibited  a 
greatness  of  soul  and  a  goodness  of  heart  un- 
equalled in  the  ranks  of  his  own  time. 

Of  Starr  King,  who  hesitated  not  at  any  per- 
sonal sacrifice  where  the  welfare  of  mankind  was 
concerned,  and  who  seemed  inspired  with  new  and 
fresh  thoughts  rising  with  each  occasion,  I  cannot 
speak  too  feelingly.  He  was  your  friend,  my 
friend,  and  everybody's  friend ;  and  with  a  mind 
seemingly  as  broad  as  his  heart  was  large,  he  lived 
and  died  in  the  service  of  his  God  and  his  fellow- 
men. 

Of  Anson  Burlmgame,  who  used  to  sit  in  his 
law-office  and  in  youthful  weakness  defy  the  Whig 
Party,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  defend  the  slaves, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  able  defender  of 
New  England  industry  that  the  country  found,  I 
can  only  add  my  word  to  the  acclaim  of  millions. 
He  was  a  workingman  in  a  twofold  sense,  and 
while  the  world  criticised,  blamed,  and  hindered, 
he  still  believed  in  his  mission  and  in  his  own 
ability  to  perform  all  that  was  given  him  to  do. 
He  rose  above  the  occasion,  reached  into  the  fu- 
ture, and,  grasping  pillars  which  the  short-sighted 
men  of  the  day  could  not  see,  he  drew  himself  so 
far  forward  as  to  be  the  leader  of  nations. 

To  these  three  natural  aristocrats,  who  gained 
the  places  they  deserved,  and  by  good  works  proved 
their  title  to  nobility,  I  would  direct  the  attention 


THE  FALL  AND   ITS   CAUSE.  259 

of  my  readers,  that  the  world  may  see  and  know 
what  it  is  losing  by  preventing  the  advance  of 
others  like  them. 

IV. 

IT  is  a  great  leap  from  the  men  of  whom  I  have 
just  spoken  to  those  who  must  now  be  intro- 
duced ;  yet  without  the  examples  the  impression 
might  not  be  made,  nor  the  inferences  drawn,  for 
which  this  book  is  written.  Unnatural  aristocrats  ! 
There  are  thousands  of  whom  I  might  speak,  but 
a  few  shall  suffice,  and  they  shall  be  only  such  as 
are  known  to  me. 

A  wealthy  manufacturer  of  Massachusetts,  with 
an  earnest  and  honest  desire  to  make  a  great  man 
of  his  son,  took  just  the  course  with  his  boy  that 
would  make  him  anything  but  what  the  father 
wished.  Instead  of  putting  him  into  practical 
life  and  utilizing  the  little  natural  talent  which 
the  boy  possessed,  he  kept  him  in  school  or  at 
watering-places  for  several  years,  after  which  he 
sent  him  to  Europe  to  get  a  "  finished  education." 
But  the  father  died,  and  the  son  was  left  an  heir 
to  an  immense  amount  of  property.  The  young 
man's  mother  was  less  careful  in  the  use  of  her 
influence  upon  him  than  his  father  had  been,  so 
that  he  became  a  good-for-nothing  aristocrat  of  the 
unnatural  order. 

When  he  became  twenty-one  years  of  age,  his 


260  NATURE'S  ARISTOCKACY. 

birthday  was  celebrated  with  a  brilliant  and  costly 
display,  fit  for  a  state  ball  in  honor  of  the  Queen. 
It  was  whispered  about  in  the  aristocratic  circles  * 
long  before  the  day  came  for  the  ball,  and  with 
much  gossip  and  impatience  the  residents  in  the 
"  fashionable  quarter  "  awaited  the  invitations.  The 
great  mansion  in  which  the  young  man  resided 
was  not  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  guests, 
and  would  not  admit  of  a  favorable  display  of  the 
waste  which  it  was  proposed  to  make ;  so  a  large 
and  well-furnished  hall,  with  its  anterooms,  &c. 
was  engaged. 

Soon  the  costly  cards  were  ordered  from  the 
engravers,  displayed  on  silver  plates,  handled  by 
delicate  fingers,  scrutinized  by  enraptured  eyes, 
while  the  whole  aristocratic  world  stood  on  tiptoe 
looking  over  the  receivers'  shoulder.  How  many 
disappointed  ones  !  Aristocracy  shed  more  tears 
over  the  non-reception  of  those  cards  than  it  ever 
did  over  the  woes  of  humanity.  Never  was  there 
such  a  furore,,  never  such  a  party,  never  such 
exhibitions  of  nonsense  ! 

The  favored  ones  at  once  set  about  the  arrange- 
ment of  their  toilets,  and  the  trade  in  laces,  costly 
silks,  diamonds,  and  rubies  received  a  marked  im- 
petus for  several  weeks.  Fashionable  dressmakers 
for  once  received  their  dues  (not  the  work-girls),  and 
there  was  a  little  chance  for  profits.  Toilets  were 

*  New  York. 


THE   FASHIONABLE  PARTY.  261 

arranged  for  that  occasion  costing  from  ten  thou- 
sand to  forty  thousand  dollars,  while  the  demand 
for  new  carriages,  stylish  livery,  perfumery,  and 
rouge,  was  even  greater  than  that  for  dresses.  It 
was  to  be  —  and  was  —  the  most  costly  party  ever 
given  in  the  city.  Ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
flowers  were  used  in  the  decoration  of  the  hall, 
where  costly  fountains  were  made  to  play  in  sweet 
arbors  and  curious  lamps  to  swing  in  floral  arch- 
ways. A  paradise  it  was  ;  and  but  for  the  contrast 
between  the  pure  flowers  and  the  hearts  of  the 
guests,  it  would  have  been  a  heavenly  place.  What 
a  gorgeous  sight !  Millions  of  dollars  displayed  in 
a  single  evening  in  a  single  hall.  No  one  cared 
about  faces,  no  one  thought  of  intellects,  as  brains 
and  natural  personal  beauty  were  at  a  discount, 
while  money  for  the  time  was  worshipped.  How 
much  wine  was  drunk,  how  many  deceitful  bits 
of  flattery  exchanged,  how  much  envy,  how  much 
hatred,  how  much  pain,,  felt  on  that  great  occasion, 
the  press  which  described  the  dresses  did  not  say. 
A  few  years  elapsed,  during  which  the  young 
hero  of  that  costly  party,  lauded  by  all  who  went 
to  his  reception  and  hated  by  all  who  did  not,  mar- 
ried a  rich  wife,  engaged  in  a  commission-busi- 
ness, where  the  goods  of  the  great  factories  passed 
through  his  hands.  His  wealth  was  said  to  bo 
fabulous,  and  his  conceited  display  was  in  keep- 
ing with  his  reputation. 


262  NATUKE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

"  Failed  for  nearly  three  millions  ! " —  how  these 
words  stung  the  ears  of  stockholders  through- 
out New  England !  In  two  years,  with  two  for- 
tunes to  support  him,  he  lost  all  his  wealth,  and 
while  he  had  large  sums  of  money  in  his  hands,  — 
or  supposed  to  be  in  his  hands,  —  the  company 
with  which  he  was  connected  failed  for  nearly  three 
millions."  Were  the  unfortunate  bankrupt  the  only 
person  concerned,  we  might  rejoice  at  the  distri- 
bution of  his  money,  but  in  his  fall  he  involved 
others,  and  no  sooner  did  the  factory  stockholders 
know  of  the  failure  than  they  reduced  the  pay  of 
the  operatives.  Twenty  thousand  of  the  workmen 
"  struck,"  but  the  discouraged  stockholders  felt  like 
losing  all  or  making  themselves  whole  again,  and 
the  strike  failed  to  accomplish  anything.  The 
cause  of  all  this  display,  loss,  and  suffering  was 
an  "  unnatural  aristocrat." 

Thirty  years  ago  there  was  a  strike  among  the 
workmen  and  girls  in  a  New  England  factory, 
and  one  of  the  grave  offences  afterward  laid  to 
their  charge  was  the  giving  of  "three  cheers 
for  the  frog  agent,"  while  the  agent  of  the  mill 
passed  the  strikers  on  his  favorite  gray  pony, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left.  It  was 
a  strange  title  to  give  a  man  of  his  wealth,  and  is, 
doubtless,  meaningless  to  many  who  have  heard  of 
that  traditional "  frog  agent."  He  was  a  proud,  con- 
ceited, arrogant  man  naturally ;  but  a  visit  which 


THE  "FROG  AGENT."  263 

he  made  to  Europe,  on  which  occasion  he  associ- 
ated with  the  lords,  and  looked  upon  the  opera- 
tives of  England  from  their  aristocratic  standard, 
doubled  his  respect  for  himself,  and  lessened  his 
regard  for  working- women  at  the  same  ratio.  When 
he  assumed  his  duties  again  as  agent,  he  tried  to 
enforce  a  rule  which  obliged  the  operatives  to  go 
to  the  mill  without  hats  or  bonnets,  in  imitation 
of  the  English  working-people,  who  were  too  poor 
to  possess  such  useful  portions  of  ornamental 
wearing  apparel.  He  made  up  his  mind  at  one 
time,  that  it  was  vulgar  for  him  to  have  his  office 
within  the  sound  of  the  mill-machinery,  remind- 
ing him  constantly  of  mechanics  and  their  low 
occupation ;  but  instead  of  removing  the  office,  he 
ordered  all  the  windows  to  be  closed  in  the  mill. 
To  this  the  overseer  protested,  saying  that  the 
operatives  and  the  cotton  must  have  air.  The 
agent  then  said  that  "an  inch  of  air"  at  each 
window  would  be  sufficient,  and  refused  to  make 
any  further  concession. 

The  overseer,  failing  to  execute  an  order  so  ob- 
noxious to  the  girls,  the  agent  himself  marched 
in  to  execute  his  own  commands.  But  while  he 
was  pulling  the  window  down  in  a  part  of  the 
mill  where  a  large,  muscular  New  Hampshire 
girl  was  engaged  in  dressing  thread,  he  attracted 
her  attention.  She  started  from  the  machine  with 
her  hands  thick  with  "sizing"  starch,  and  exclaim- 


264  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

ing,  "What !  only  an  inch  of  air  in  a  free  country ! " 
pushed  him  aside,  threw  up  the  window  with  a 
slam,  and  then  marched  the  sheepish,  starch- 
covered  agent  to  the  stairway,  bidding  him  to  con- 
sider whose  air  it  was  that  he  was  shutting  out. 

Failing  to  shut  in  the  noise  of  the  mill,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  frogs,  which  were  said  to  dis- 
turb his  day  and  night  repose  with  their  "  vulgar 
peeps."  One  day  he  cruelly  ordered  his  servant  to 
kill  them  all  by  pouring  in  lime ;  and,  to  prevent 
the  use  of  the  spot  by  immigrating  "  peepers,"  he 
hired  men  to  drain  it.  This,  of  course,  furnished 
amusement  for  the  operatives,  while  it  increased 
that  hatred  which  culminated  in  a  strike  and  the 
agent's  removal. 

The  son  of  that  distinguished  agent  inherited 
much  of  his  father's  arrogant  spirit;  and  as  his 
abilities  did  not  give  him  much  opportunity  to 
appear  in  public  circles,  he  displayed  his  selfish- 
ness among  the  servants  and  members  of  his  house- 
hold. He  was  ever  afraid  that  his  domestics 
would  show  him  some  disrespect,  and  at  the  same 
time,  like  his  father,  had  not  the  courage  to  resent 
an  insult  even  from  them.  One  day  he  asked  the 
busy  parlor-girl  why  she  did  not  say  "Sir,"  and 
inquired  if  she  meant  to  disrespect  him,  or  omit- 
ted the  word  from  ignorance ;  to  which  the  impu- 
dent girl  replied  that  she  did  not  know  or  care 
which,  as  she  thought  too  little  about  him  to  trouble 
herself  with  titles. 


UNNATURAL  ARISTOCRATS.  265 

He  went  to  an  intelligence  office  and  hired  a  pro- 
fessional cook,  and  gave  the  keeper  of  the  office  a 
fee  of  seventy-five  cents.  But  when  the  cook  re- 
fused to  black  his  boots,  wash  the  windows,  brush 
his  clothes,  and  attend  to  other  work,  he  permitted 
her  to  leave,  and  went  to  the  intelligence  office  to 
demand  a  return  of  the  fee.  The  keeper  objected, 
saying  that  she  had  done  her  duty,  and  earned  the 
money ;  but  as  he  threatened  to  use  his  influence 
with  the  authorities  to  revoke  her  license,  she  gave 
back  to  the  rich  man  the  sum  of  twenty-five  cents, 
to  avoid  further  injustice.  His  treatment  of  this 
woman  was  a  key  to  his  policy  with  regard  to  the 
operatives  in  those  mills  where  he  was  represented 
by  stock,  and  to  such  as  he  is  due  many  of  the 
strikes  which  have  so  often  occurred.. 


V. 

I  REMEMBER  a  mayor  of  a  large  city,  whose 
aristocratic  pride  was  of  the  most  arrogant  kind, 
and  to  whom  it  was  the  greatest  hardship  to  con- 
verse with  his  own  employees.  Whenever  he  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  his  servants,  they 
stood  at  a  respectful  distance;  and  if  he  had  a 
letter  or  other  missive  for  them,  he  always  tossed 
it  to  them,  and  turned  hurriedly  away.  One  of 
the  severest  ordeals  through  which  he  is  said  to 
have  passed  was  the  official  reception  as  mayor  of 
12 


266  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

a  military  company  of  which  his  coachman  was 
the  captain.  This  wealthy  aristocrat,  when  the 
proposition  was  made  to  establish  a  free  school  for 
girls,  strenuously  opposed  the  measure,  as  it  would 
be  placing  washerwomen's  daughters  on  the  same 
plane  with  those  of  the  wealthy ;  and  he  feared 
that  the  education  of  such  girls  would  only  teach 
them  to  "  set  traps  for  rich  men's  sons,"  and  thus 
bring  misfortune  upon  the  upper  classes,  whose 
sons,  he  thought,  should  always  marry  equals. 

I  recall  two  stockholders  who  visited  the  cotton- 
factories  in  which  they  were  interested,  but  who 
knew  nothing  of  the  processes  of  manufacture. 
One  of  them  saw  a  young  man  lying  down  upon 
a  box  in  the  "steam-room"  to  rest  himself,  after 
exhaustive  labors  upon  the  scalding  cloth.  The 
stockholder  passed  on  to  the  office  and  demanded 
that  the  man  be  discharged.  On  returning  with 
the  agent  to  point  out  the  man,  all  were  so  busy 
that  the  stockholder  could  not  recognize  the  man, 
so,  after  looking  about  for  some  time,  he  pointed 
out  a  man  in  another  apartment  as  the  person  he 
saw  "  shirking,"  and  a  hard-working,  honest  fellow 
was  discharged  by  the  agent,  in  spite  of  undeniable 
proof  that  the  man  had  not  been  in  the  steam- 
room  that  day.  The  other  stockholder  saw  some 
broken  threads  in  a  loom,  and,  noticing  at  the  same 
time  that  the  girl  was  seated  on  the  window-sill, 
ordered  her  discharge  ;  notwithstanding  the  fact 


HEREDITAEY  PRIDE.  267 

that  the  broken  threads  did  no  harm,  and  the  oper- 
ative was  one  of  the  best  in  the  factory.  They 
had  money  in  the  mill,  and  wished  to  display  their 
power. 

There  was  a  wealthy  man  living  in  a  New  Eng- 
land city  whose  income  was  very  large,  but  who 
would  not  allow  his  wife  the  funds  to  provide 
the  commonest  necessaries  of  life.  The  wife  tried 
to  support  herself  and  him  by  keeping  a  com- 
mon boarding-house,  and  I  have  seen  her  ragged 
and  barefooted,  weeping  as  if  her  heart  would 
break,  because  she  owed  a  bill  which  she  could 
not  pay,  and  the  cruel  creditor  had  threatened  to 
present  it  to  her  husband.  She  was  an  abject 
slave,  and  she  was  as  afraid  of  his  wrath  as  she 
would  have  been  of  an  angry  tiger.  Still  he 
was  a  moneyed  aristocrat,  and  was  recognized  as 
a  leader  in  financial  circles.  He  had  wealth  and 
comfort ;  while  his  own  wife  was  suffering  in 
ragged  clothing,  with  insufficient  food,  and  broken 
by  body-racking  toil 

The  most  despisable,  useless,  aimless  of  all  un- 
natural aristocracies  is  that  of  the  hereditary  sort. 
There  does  seem  to  be  some  little  excuse  for  pride 
and  display  when  a  person  has  by  his  own  efforts 
obtained  wealth  or  position;  but  to  arrogate  to 
one's  self  great  importance  because  he  happens  to 
be  the  descendant  of  some  one  who  was  noble  is 
to  an  American  mind  one  of  the  silliest  things 


268  NATUKE'S  AEISTOCKACY. 

which  a  man  can  do.  Yet  there  are  very  many 
American  families  who  have  nothing  whatever  to 
pride  themselves  on  except  their  descent,  who 
nevertheless  look  upon  their  family  as  on  creatures 
too  pure  and  holy  to  mingle  with  the  "  vulgar 
herd." 

I  knew  a  family  —  not  many  years  ago  —  who 
claimed  to  be  the  descendants  of  an  English  duke ; 
and  a  person,  sitting  in  their  parlors  and  seeing 
their  haughty  airs,  would  be  almost  persuaded  that 
they  had  done  something  of  which  they  might  con- 
sistently be  proud.  They  were  not  the  associates 
of  any  other  line  of  aristocracy,  and  despised  self- 
made  men.  The  gentleman  of  the  house  passed 
his  time  in  idleness,  taking  his  breakfast  at  ten 
o'clock,  going  to  the  club-house  at  twelve,  and  re- 
turning at  two  and  a  half  o'clock  for  dinner.  At 
five  o'clock  the  elegant  carriage  with  the  costly 
span  of  horses  dressed  in  gold-mounted  harnesses 
was  brought  to  the  door  by  the  servant,  and  the 
family  went  out  for  an  hour's  drive.  After  tea 
there  was  a  party,  or  an  opera,  or  a  theatre,  at 
which  the  evening  could  be  spent.  This  gentle- 
man never  read  anything  but  his  "  store-book," 
although  his  library  was  filled  with  the  choicest 
literary  productions.  He  spared  no  money  in  the 
decoration  of  his  mansion,  and  from  kitchen  to 
garret  it  was  furnished  in  the  most  costly  style. 
There  was  nothing  about  the  appearance  of  the 


PENURIOUS  MAN  OF  WEALTH.       269 

mansion  which  would  indicate  that  the  owner  was 
penurious,  nor  did  they  think  in  the  club  that  this 
was  his  character.  He  was  peculiar.  Anything 
that  was  aristocratic  he  did  generously  because 
his  ancestors  did  so,  but  in  anything  which  did 
not  involve  his  family  pride  he  was  close  and 
unreasonable.  He  never  took  into  his  employ  a 
person  who  had  been  a  domestic  in  any  other  aris- 
tocratic family,  because  it  is  the  custom  among 
people  who  become  suddenly  rich  to  hire  old  ser- 
vants to  regulate  the  household  and  give  it  such 
an  appearance  as  they  have  seen  in  other  families. 
He  took  care  to  oversee  everything  himself,  and 
knew  and  interfered  with  the  business  of  all  the 
servants  alike.  Although  he  purchased  everything 
freely  that  could  add  to  the  personal  appearance 
of  any  of  the  family,  paid  two  thousand  a  year  to 
the  dressmaker,  and  large  sums  to  the  fashionable 
hairdresser,  yet  he  seemed  to  begrudge  to  all  the 
family  a  sufficient  supply  of  food.  Two  little 
nieces,  who  had  been  left  to  his  care  by  a  wealthy 
sister,  were  decorated  with  every  costly  ornament, 
and  when  taken  out  for  a  ride,  dressed  in  their  vel- 
vets or  furs,  they  were  pointed  out  by  the  people 
as  a  beautiful  and  happy  pair.  But  by  his  orders 
they  were  fed  on  "  hash-and-bread "  from  day  to 
day,  and  limited  in  their  supply  of  that.  Many  a 
time  the  sweet  little  sisters  went  out  in  state  to 
ride  without  sufficient  food  to  keep  them  from  cry- 


270  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

ing  with  hunger.  He  allowed  the  servants  to  have 
only  a  sufficient  number  of  plates  and  other  dishes 
to  supply  the  persons  actually  employed,  thus  pre- 
venting them  from  inviting  any  of  their  friends 
to  dine.  In  this  he  had  the  support  of  his  proud 
wife ;  and  one  day  when  a  small  turkey  had  been 
taken  from  the  dining-room  where  seven  persons 
partook  of  it,  to  the  kitchen  where  six  more 
picked  at  it,  she  scolded  and  discharged  the  cook 
for  not  saving  some  slices  for  breakfast.  He  de- 
clared that  he  could  not  afford  dessert  for  the  little 
girls  unless  they  ate  more  heartily  of  "  hash,"  and 
would  not  permit  a  servant  to  use  the  starch  or 
soap  without  paying  for  it.  "When  a  cake  was 
placed  upon  the  table  and  a  portion  remained  after 
the  meal,  he  would  ingeniously  mark  it  to  see  if  the 
waiter-girl  took  a  slice.  He  purchased  a  medicine- 
bottle  for  use  as  a  wine-decanter,  in  the  glass  of 
which  was  cast  the  name  of  the  maker.  "When  ho 
had  drank  his  last  glass  of  wine  at  dinner,  he  took 
his  pencil  and,  noticing  the  letter  which  marked 
the  surface  of  the  wine  within,  wrote  the  name  of 
the  letter  in  his  diary,  hoping  in  that  way  to  de- 
tect any  theft  of  his  wine.  It  was  his  nature  to 
attend  to  little  things,  and  although  he  exhibited 
considerable  mechanical  skill  and  could  have  been 
an  excellent  carpenter,  yet  with  all  his  wealth  he 
could  not  get  above  the  level  of  his  domestics,  nor 
occupy  his  thoughts  with  more  weighty  matters 
than  their  concerns. 


THE  KITCHEN  MTLLTONNAIBE.  271 

Another  striking  example  of  the  natural  unfitness 
of  some  men  for  wealthy  positions  came  under  my 
observation  a  few  years  ago.  A  man  worth  four 
millions  of  dollars,  living  in  a  palace,  and  moving 
in  the  most  "  aristocratic  "  society,  was  neverthe- 
less so  narrow-minded  and  selfish  that  he  felt  afc 
home  with  none  but  the  humblest  people.  His 
principal  occupation  was  in  overseeing  the  em- 
ployees about  the  house,  and  it  was  unsafe  for  the 
cook  to  bake  a  pie,  the  parlor-girl  to  dust  the  fur- 
niture, or  the  "  kitchen  colonel "  to  move  a  barrel 
of  provisions,  without  the  millionnaire's  consent. 
He  always  made  his  regular  "  rounds  "  from  attic 
to  cellar  two  or  three  times  during  the  day  and 
night,  and  knew  just  how  many  provisions  and 
how  much  coal  had  been  used,  how  many  pieces 
washed,  and  how  often  the  washerwoman  had  taken 
rest  during  the  forenoon.  When  the  man  came 
for  soap-grease,  old  umbrellas,  old  boots,  hats,  or 
rags,  the  owner  of  the  mansion  would  attend  to  the 
measurement  and  sale  himself.  He  would  some- 
times barter  over  a  pound  of  soap-grease  or  a  pail 
of  swill  until  the  disgusted  applicant  would  leave 
in  anger  without  having  accomplished  his  errand. 
One  day  the  milkman  came  into  the  kitchen,  and, 
seeing  the  finely  dressed  man  attending  to  the 
business,  supposed  him  to  be  the  "  kitchen-colonel," 
and  addressed  him  with  a  familiar  "  good  morning." 
The  niillionnaire  stared  at  the  honest  milkman,  and 


272  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

refused  to  answer  the  salutation.  The  milkman 
was  seriously  offended,  and  when  he  reached  the 
gate,  on  his  way  out  of  the  yard,  he  turned  about, 
and,  shaking  his  fist  at  the  haughty  man  of  wealth, 
bade  him  "  come  out  of  the  house  "  and  be  taught 
that  a  milkman  was  as  good  as  he,  even  though  he 
was  "  dressed  in  some  old  fool's  livery  "  !  Where- 
upon the  proprietor  rushed  out  and  engaged  in  a 
rough-and-tumble  fight  with  the  driver  of  a  milk- 
cart. 

Two  maiden  ladies,  who  had  seen  the  richest  side 
of  high  life,  and  who  lived  together  in  Boston  a 
few  years  ago,  were  the  wealthiest  and  at  the  same 
time  the  unhappiest  human  beings  to  whom  my 
attention  has  ever  been  called.  They  were  so  self- 
ish that  they  disliked  to  have  their  own  sisters 
visit  them  when  their  presence  added  a  farthing  to 
the  usual  household  expenses.  They  teased  the 
cook,  who  could  find  plenty  of  employment  on  the 
same  street  for  four  dollars  a  week,  to  remain  with 
them  for  three.  Haughty,  overbearing,  and  stingy, 
they  made  the  house  as  unpleasant  as  possible  for 
themselves  and  all  who  came  within  its  walls. 
While  they  were  cutting  down  the  wages  of  the 
domestics,  and  begrudging  bread-and-butter  to  their 
nearest  relatives,  the  great  rooms  in  the  second 
story  were  filled  with  large  trunks  and  boxes,  in 
which  were  stored  hundreds  of  costly  dresses,  im- 
ported laces,  corsets,  silks,  shawls,  cloaks,  bonnets, 


MISERLY  WOMEN.  273 

and  many  articles  of  jewelry  of  immense  value. 
Five  thousand  dollars  had  been  paid  at  one  time 
in  duties  on  dress  goods  purchased  in  Europe  for 
them.  But  the  accumulation  of  forty  years  lay  in 
those  trunks,  moulding,  rusting,  and  decaying; 
while  the  waiter-girls  could  not  afford  a  calico 
dress  or  a  new  bonnet  of  the  value  of  a  single  inch 
of  that  wasting  gold  lace  which  lay  above  stairs. 
The  oldest  lady  became  very  childish,  and  in  that 
state  —  which  was  pitiable  to  behold  —  she  would 
wish  for  joys  and  comforts  which  the  poor  children 
only  know,  and  mourned  that  she  was  so  unfortu- 
nate. 

After  her  death  the  relatives  were  over  three 
weeks  in  exhuming  the  costly  wardrobes  and  in 
distributing  the  valuable  property  which  had  been 
miserly  buried  from  sight  for  so  many  years.  "Who 
would  be  an  aristocrat 

"  For  fleeting  joys  like  these  "  ? 

I  remember  an  old  man,  who  in  the  days  of  his 
youth  and  middle  age  was  a  severe  taskmaster, 
a  purse-proud  associate,  and  a  disagreeable  member 
of  the  household.  To  him  there  was  no  greater 
insult  than  that  offered  by  employees  who  at- 
tempted to  address  him  unbidden.  He  never  gave 
the  least  sign  of  recognition  when  he  met  his 
domestics  on  the  street,  and  was  a  tyrant  as  far 
as  it  is  possible  for  man  to  be  in  this  free  land. 

But    with     declining    years    came     declining 

12*  R 


274  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

strength.  His  mental  vigor  left  him,  and  at  last 
he  became  a  childish  lunatic.  While  in  that  con- 
dition his  former  coachman,  who.  notwithstanding 

O 

the  abuse  he  had  received,  was  true  to  his  em- 
ployer, waited  upon  him  and  provided  him  with 
all  the  little  luxuries  of  which  he  knew  the  invalid 
to  be  fond.  The  old  man  imagined  himself  to  be 
in  an  institution  of  some  kind,  and  was  ever  in 
fear  of  displeasing  the  overseers.  As  if  in  retribu- 
tion for  his  own  arrogance,  he  became  a  prisoner  in 
his  own  house,  and  believed  that  he  must  pay  the 
same  homage  to  those  around  him  that  he  had 
once  demanded  of  others.  He  imagined  the  coach- 
man to  be  his  "  keeper,"  and  obeyed  him  with  the 
greatest  show  of  respect.  One  day,  in  conversation 
with  a  visitor,  the  old  man  declared  himself  exceed- 
ingly pleased  with  the  institution,  but  said  that  he 
was  troubled  about  the  title  which  he  should  give 
his  "keeper." 

"  I  have  called  him  the  Judge,"  said  the  invalid, 
"  and  it  pleased  him  some.  I  called  him  the  General, 
and  he  likes  that;  but  I  believe  that  he  is  the 
most  pleased  when  I  address  him  as  the  Doctor." 

Thus  for  years  that  old  man  lived  on,  never  dar- 
ing to  find  fault  with  his  food,  or  to  omit  the  "  Sir  " 
when  he  addressed  his  coachman,  or  to  move  an 
article  of  furniture  from  the  place  where  his  keeper 
placed  it.  In  which  of  these  two  positions  —  in 
health  or  in  sickness  —  was  this  man  the  most  to 
be  respected  ? 


INGRATITUDE.  275 

Years  ago,  a  poor  boy,  possessed  of  considerable 
natural  talent,  and  having  by  various  means  ob- 
tained the  necessary  instruction  to  be  able  to  enter 
college,  found  himself  unable  to  proceed  further 
without  considerable  assistance.  At  that  time  he 
had  attracted  the  attention  of  a  lady  who  held 
a  high  position,  and  who  to  this  day  is  remembered 
for  her  nobleness  and  generosity.  She  interested 
herself  in  his  behalf,  and,  going  to  a  wealthy 
neighbor,  she  told  him  the  boy's  history,  at  the 
same  time  asking  for  aid.  The  man  took  his  purse 
from  his  pocket  and  presented  it  to  the  lady, 
asking  her  to  take  therefrom  all  she  needed.  But 
she  refused,  saying  that  she  "put  her  hands  in 
nobody's  purse  but  her  own,"  and  requested  him  to 
give  such  an  amount  as  he  deemed  best.  Where- 
upon he  gave  her  one  hundred  dollars,  and  bade 
her  come  for  more  on  the  first  occasion. 

With  such  assistance  the  boy  passed  through 
his  college-days,  and  entered  the  arena  of  active 
life  as  an  essayist  and  poet.  To  him  to-day  the 
eyes  of  millions  are  directed,  and  his  praises  echo 
over  the  whole  world.  Yet,  alas !  not  one  word 
does  he  say  for  the  poor  boys  who  are  now  in  the 
position  he  once  held,  nor  will  he  stoop  to  converse 
with  the  laboring  ones  around  him.  That  on  which 
he  flatters  himself  least  is  his  greatest  merit,  while 
that  on  which  he  prides  himself  most  is  a  curse  to 
him  and  humanity. 


276  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY* 

VI. 

WHEN  the  war  between  the  States  began,  there 
were  few  stronger  sympathizers  with  the  seceding 
portion  anywhere  than  were  to  be  found  among 
the  manufacturers  of  the  North.  They  were  the 
last  to  come  into  the  ranks  of  government  support- 
ers, and  but  a  weak  ally  when  they  did  "  accept 
the  situation."  They  gave  their  moral  support  to 
slavery  before  the  war,  and  so  great  was  their  in- 
fluence that  the  leading  men  of  the  North  followed 
for  a  time  wherever  they  led.  Edward  Everett, 
when  called  upon  to  be  present  at  a  mass  meeting 
in  Faneuil  Hall,  where  it  was  proposed  to  indorse 
Charles  Sumner  and  resent  the  insult  given  him 
by  Preston  Brooks,  refused  to  lend  his  influence, 
and  suddenly  concluded  that  "  he  had  retired  from 
active  life." 

While  the  people  became  more  and  more  con- 
vinced of  the  evils  of  slavery,  the  wealth  of  the 
land  became  more  and  more  devoted  to  the  per- 
petuation of  that  institution.  Opposed  to  the  war 
to  the  very  last  moment,  the  manufacturing  corpo- 
ration did  not  give  their  aid  or  sympathy  until  the 
mighty  uprising  of  the  masses  forced  them  into  the 
current.  Even  then  there  were  men  who  would 
neither  be  coaxed  nor  driven.  One  of  the  largest 
factory-owners  in  the  Eastern  States  declared  that 
he  would  disown  America  —  what  a  calamity, 


MEN  AND   HOUSES.  277 

surely !  —  if  war  was  made,  and  in  1862  lie  went 
with  his  family  to  Europe  in  disgust,  declaring  that 
he  could  not  live  in  such  a  contemptible  nation. 
The  haste  with  which  he  returned  in  1865  indi- 
cated that  the  nation  was  only  contemptible  so 
long  as  he  made  no  profits,  and  was  most  lovable 
indeed  when  the  close  of  the  war  sent  back  the 
slaves  of  wages  to  his  mills. 

VII. 

WHICH  is  of  the  most  value,  —  a  man  or  a  horse  ? 
Nearly  every  reader  would  answer  that  question 
without  hesitation  in  favor  of  the  man.  But  such 
an  answer  would  rule  the  speaker  out  of  the  soci- 
ety of  some  unnatural  aristocrats.  For  there  are 
men  in  America  who  love  their  horses  better  than 
they  do  mankind,  and  who  would  make  much 
greater  sacrifice  to  save  a  favorite  beast  than  they 
would  to  save  the  lives  of  a  dozen  human  beings. 
I  once  made  a  visit  to  the  residence  of  one  of  this 
class  of  aristocrats,  and  I  was  greatly  surprised  at 
the  care  which  was  taken  of  the  horses  and  the 
little  attention  that  was  paid  to  humanity. 

The  building  into  which  I  was  ushered  when 
invited  to  see  the  horses  seemed  to  me  much 
more  like  a  palace  than  a  stable,  —  a  great  build- 
ing, painted  and  decorated  like  a  dwelling,  with 
a  neatness  about  it  which  is  not  found  on  every 


278  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

lawn.  The  first  apartment  which  we  entered  was 
the  "reception-room,"  where  costly  furniture  of 
richest  parlor  description  was  tastily  arranged, 
and  where  an  immense  number  of  gold-mounted 
harnesses  were  hung  around  the  walls  behind 
glass  cases.  Here  guests  were  received  by  the 
chief  groom,  and  treated  to  such  refreshments  as 
the  occasion  might  require. 

The  next  apartment  was  reserved  exclusively 
for  harnesses,  and  in  it  could  be  found  samples  of 
every  kind  and  variety.  Here  the  most  fastidious 
could  find  a  "  rig  "  suited  to  his  taste. 

Then  came  the  carriage  hall,  where  twenty- 
three  different  styles  of  carriages  were  shining  in 
new  coats  of  paint  and  varnish.  Buggies,  sulkies, 
barouches,  carryalls,  market-wagons,  chaises,  and 
miniature  coaches  were  arranged  in  rows  so  as 
to  exhibit  the  velvet  linings,  the  downy  cushions, 
and  the  thousand-dollar  robes  and  lap  blankets 
of  ermine,  sable  and  seal-skin. 

In  the  division  of  the  stable  where  the  horses 
were  kept  we  were  shown  a  long  hall  like  those 
seen  in  hotels,  with  doors  leading  to  the  right  and 
left.  These  doors  opened  into  the  "  sleeping  apart- 
ments," where  the  horses  could  be  seen  standing 
in  straw  to  their  knees,  with  no  halters  upon  their 
heads,  and  each  occupying  a  large  square  apart- 
ment by  himself.  These  rooms  were  ceiled  with 
the  best  timber  and  oiled,  over  which  were  fast- 


THE  CONTRAST.  279 

ened  gray,  coarse  blankets  to  make  the  stable  tight 
and  keep  the  horses  from  marring  the  beautiful 
finish. 

Everything  that  could  be  done  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  grooms  was  done  for  the  comfort  and  health 
of  the  animals,  anticipating  in  nearly  everything 
the  dumb  brutes'  slightest  wish.  Having  good  food 
and  plenty  of  it,  a  nice,  warm  room,  with  a  soft  bed, 
close-fitting  blankets,  and  regular  exercise  every 
day,  those  beasts  might  well  be  considered  a  happy, 
contented  class  of  beings.  Two  hundred  and  fifty 
horses,  varying  in  value  from  five  hundred  to  fif- 
teen thousand  dollars,  were  owned  and  feasted  by 
a  single  family.  The  children  purchased  candy  to 
feed  their  favorite  ponies,  while  the  parents  stood 
by  and  taught  them  "  how  to  be  kind  to  beasts." 

As  we  turned  away  from  the  building  and  bade 
the  good-natured  superintendent  adieu,  the  bell  of 
the  factory  near  by  began  its  peals,  notifying  the 
operatives  that  the  dinner-hour  had  come.  As  the 
factory  and  the  stable  were  owned  by  the  same 
man,  I  stopped  by  the  great  gateway  as  the  flood 
passed  by,  to  watch  the  manners  and  see  the  dress 
of  the  working  men  and  women.  Their  appearance 
was  sadly  in  contrast  with  that  of  the  horses. 
There  were  bare  heads,  bare  arms,  and  nearly  bare 
feet.  Little  children  trying  to  hide  their  be- 
numbed fingers  under  scanty  rags,  young  girls 
shivering  and  hungry,  old  men  and  old  women 


280  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

hastening  to  their  meals  of  bread  and  pork,  —  all 
in  need  of  sympathy,  and  all  in  poverty  compared 
with  the  condition  of  the  horses ;  yet  no  one  cared 
whether  these  creatures  were  supplied  with  food 
or  clothing,  and  no  one  complained  of  the  wealthy 
owner  for  thus  neglecting  and  abusing  his  human 
cattle.  The  interest  on  the  money  lying  idle  in 
horse-flesh  and  stables  would  have  kept  two 
hundred  of  those  needy  ones  in  comfort  and 
happiness,  and  would  have  assisted  in  giving  to 
society  educated,  thoughtful,  and  profitable  men 
and  women. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

LABOR  REFORM. 

Lack  of  Thought.  —  How  Politicians  lead  the  People. — The 
Lessons  of  the  "War.  —  Organization  of  a  Labor  Reform 
Party.  —  No  Leaders.  —  What  the  Laborers  demand.  —  Less 
Hours.  —  The  Respect  of  Thinking  Hen.  —  Just  Legislation. 

I. 

THE  time  was,  not  many  years  ago,  when  the 
employee  who  received  his  regular  wages 
never  ventured  to  inquire  into  his  employer's  busi- 
ness, nor  questioned  the  equity  of  his  pay,  provided 
that  he  obtained  a  sufficient  amount  to  defray  his 
necessary  expenses.  It  mattered  but  little  to  him, 
as  far  as  right  was  concerned,  whether  the  pay  was 
small  or  great,  if  he  obtained  the  sum  for  which 
he  agreed  to  labor.  No  one  dreamed  that  he  was 
earning  more  than  he  could  get  in  an  open  bar- 
gain, or  that  the  profits  of  a  business  should  have 
any  consideration  in  the  bargains  for  employment 
of  workmen. 

The  intelligent  workmen  of  America  then,  not- 
withstanding their  boasted  superiority  to  the  same 


282  NATUEE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

classes  in  England,  Kussia,  and  Germany,  were  in 
a  mental  thraldom  as  strong  as  it  was  subtle.  The 
farmers  of  New  England  twenty  years  ago  always 
laid  the  latest  congressional  speech  which  appeared 
in  their  weekly  paper  under  the  old  family  Bible, 
and  preserved  it  for  the  Sabbath  or  a  rainy  day, 
when  it  could  be  carefully  devoured  and  -partially 
digested.  The  longest  and  most  intricate  speeches 
were  the  subjects  of  his  greatest  admiration,  and 
the  orator  to  whom  the  newspaper  gave  the  largest 
space  was  the  farmer's  nominee  for  the  next  Presi- 
dency. It  never  occurred  to  him  that  he  himself 
could  ever  be  a  government  officer,  and  year  after 
year  he  voted  for  town,  county,  State,  and  national 
officials,  permitting  his  judgment  to  be  easily  con- 
trolled by  the  aforesaid  paper  or  by  some  remarks 
of  his  pastor. 

Then,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  make  very 
costly  displays  during  the  canvass  for  the  election 
of  presidents,  and  on  such  occasions  as  the  election 
of  Jackson,  Taylor,  Tyler,  Harrison,  and  others 
millions  of  money  were  wasted  in  noise  and  idle 
show.  The  author  remembers  the  canvass  of  1856 
when  in  the  New  England  States  there  were  enor- 
mous sums  expended  in  torchlights,  fireworks, 
and  banners  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  "  awaken- 
ing an  enthusiasm  "  for  General  Fremont.  It  was 
necessary  to  do  this  in  order  to  impress  the  un- 
thinking masses  of  the  greatness  and  popularity  of 


THOUGHT  AND  LIBERTY.  283 

the  candidate.  Men,  however,  were  then  intelli- 
gent, and  claimed  to  be  public-spirited,  but  they 
did  not  think.  To  them  liberty  was  an  inheri- 
tance, paid  for  by  their  fathers  and  handed  down 
to  them  as  a  mere  keepsake,  of  which  no  one  would 
dream  of  robbing  them ;  they  calmly  accepted  it, 
and  talked  and  voted  as  if  the  candidate  were  all 
there  is  of  interest  in  political  campaigns.  Liberty 
and  justice  were,  as  they  thought,  secure.  Even 
the  great  men,  like  Webster,  Choate,  and  Everett, 
cared  but  little  for  the  reasoning  powers  of  the 
working  classes,  and  pursued  such  a  course  as  would 
be  the  most  likely  to  win  the  influence  of  the 
wealthy  classes.  Hero-worship  was  the  controlling 
sentiment.  As  Tom  Brown,  the  shoe-boss,  voted, 
so  voted  his  employees ;  and  the  side  which  the 
dealer  in  town  espoused  was  the  party  of  Tom 
Brown,  and  the  political  opinion  of  some  favorite 
orator  made  the  opinion  of  the  city  dealer.  Each 
depended  upon  some  one  higher  in  office  or  in  social 
standing  for  the  necessary  guidance  in  all  political 
affairs.  Even  a  "selectman"  in  the  smallest 
mountain  town  was  generally  an  object  of  venera- 
tion to  every  one  of  his  constituents.  Hence  it 
was  necessary  only  to  bring  sufficient  influence 
upon  the  leaders  to  obtain  an  election  to  any 
office. 

Political  discussions  were  then  carried  on  only 
by  little  knots  of  men  on  the  street-corners,  in  the 


284  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

bar-rooms,  or  in  the  social  evening-parties.  When 
a  great  man  addressed  the  "  citizens,"  they  insensi- 
bly sided  with  him  until  his  rival  followed.  There 
were  no  discussions  on  such  occasions  among  the 
hearers.  They  accepted  or  rejected  the  proposition 
at  the  time,  and,  unless  provoked  by  some  extraor- 
dinary cause,  would  not  venture  to  deny  the  state- 
ments of  either  party.  Such  wordy  controversies 
as  did  occur  were  such  as  related  to  the  character 
of  a  candidate,  or  the  integrity  of  the  party,  with- 
out a  reference,  except  in  the  most  vague  and 
unmeaning  way,  to  the  contestants'  rights.  In 
short,  every  white  man  supposed  that  he  had  all 
of  his  rights,  moral  and  political,  and  deemed  the 
arrogance  of  the  wealthy  and  pride  of  the  officials 
to  be  a  part  of  "  nature's  great  and  grand  design." 

II. 

THE  late  Civil  War  brought  nearly  as  many 
great  changes  in  the  North  as  it  did  in  the  South. 
The  soldiers,  who  were  called  upon  to  go  and  fight 
for  the  nation,  found  that  their  liberties  were  to 
cost  something.  The  man  who,  in  the  draft  for 
soldiers  to  supply  the  army,  heard  his  name 
called  as  the  first  check  was  taken  from  the 
marshal's  wheel,  and  who  found  that  he  must  go 
and  leave  a  wife  and  eight  children,  and  thus  pay 
well  for  the  little  comfort  which  he  and  his  had 


WORKMEN  IN  WAR.  285 

enjoyed.  When  the  name  of  his  rich  neighbor 
was  called,  he  saw  the  wealthy  stockholder  pay  a 
sum  of  money  and  go  home  a  free  man,  and  he 
then,  for  the  first  time,  perhaps,  in  his  life,  saw 
what  an  unjust  power  the  law  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  wealthy. 

Through  years  of  untold  hardship  and  danger 
the  poor  man  toiled  on,  undergoing  cheerfully  the 
sacrifice ;  for  with  each  new  tax  the  value  of  liberty 
increased.  He  found  that  he  must  fight  and  dare 
in  order  to  retain  his  own  liberty,  while  attempting 
the  liberation  of  others.  He  found  time  in  camp, 
or  on  picket,  or  in  the  hospital,  to  solve  the  question 
which  so  often  arose  to  the  lips  of  the  soldier, 
namely,  What  is  this  all  for?  "For  liberty  we 
suffer"  said  the  leaders.  But  this  reply  had  more 
meaning  after  sieges,  battles,  and  forced  marches 
than  it  ever  seemed  to  have  before,  and  the  man 
who  had  voted  many  times  so  thoughtlessly  began 
to  ask  himself  what  "  liberty  "  meant.  Accepting 
that  statesmanlike  definition,  "  the  greatest  good 
of  the  greatest  number,"  he  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  there  were  other  classes  besides  the  negroes 
of  the  South  who  had  not  such  liberty  as  "the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number  "  demanded. 

He  saw,  too,  that  his  old  neighbors  were  pro- 
moted to  official  positions  for  which  they  were  less 
fitted  than  himself,  and  was  compelled  nearly  every 
hour  to  pay  military  salutes  to  men  whose  station 


286  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

in  life  was  socially  no  better  than  Ms  own.  Tliis 
brought  about  a  great  revolution  in  the  matter  of 
hero-worship,  and  the  holder  of  an  office  became 
simply  an  individual ;  surrounded  by  none  of  that 
dignity,  and  possessed  of  none  of  that  mysterious 
greatness  which  the  soldier  had  before  imagined  to 
belong  to  official  position. 

There,  too,  the  citizens  of  different  localities  were 
unavoidably  thrown  together  by  the  tactics  of  war, 
and  the  soldiers  from  Maine  and  Minnesota,  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  Illi- 
nois, all  stood  side  by  side  on  the  field  upon  an 
equality.  Their  common  cause  created  an  interest 
in  one  another,  and  by  the  interchange  of  ideas  all 
became  in  a  measure  acquainted  with  the  manners, 
people,  and  natural  features  of  the  whole  country. 
They  found  everywhere  the  same  great  gulf  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor  which  the  founders  of  the 
nation  had  hoped  to  cover  with  the  laws  against 
titles  and  hereditary  aristocracy,  and  felt  how  much 
more  they  had  to  pay  for  their  liberty  than  did  the 
law-protected  man  of  wealth,  who  sat  in  his  home 
and  smoked  his  cigar,  while  a  hired  substitute 
fought  his  battles.  Trial  and  woe  made  them 
jealous  of  their  rights,  and  the  masses  began  to 
think. 


BAD  LAWS.  287 

III. 

AFTER  the  -war  there  was  a  great  reaction ;  their 
experience  with  proud  officers,  and  their  new  views 
of  life  made  them  difficult  to  lead.  They  had 
little  or  no  respect  for  the  person  of  an  officer, 
and  felt  that  they  were  as  much  entitled  to  gov- 
ern as  any  one.  The  laboring  men  had  not  over- 
looked the  necessity  for  organization,  neither  had 
their  irreverence  for  the  officers  decreased  their 
respect  for  the  law.  The  law  was  everything,  and 
in  the  making  of  those  laws  they  had  an  equal 
share.  Before,  the  laws  had  been  so  constructed 
as  to  strongly  favor  capital ;  the  plan  of  permit- 
ting supply  and  demand,  pay  and  profits,  to  regu- 
late themselves  had  been  most  grievously  inter- 
fered with,  and  such  measures  had  been  established 
by  law  and  custom  as  to  increase  the  power  of 
capital  tenfold. 

The  necessity  was  at  once  apparent  for  either  a 
return  to  the  equitable  state  of  "  no  law,"  or  counter 
laws  must  be  passed  to  defeat  the  purposes  of  those 
already  established  ;  and  upon  this  work  they  en- 
tered with  a  will.  As  early  as  1863  a  movement 
began  in  Pennsylvania,  and  from  that  time  until 
1871  there  was  little  or  no  rest.  The  pioneer  in 
the  movement  was  William  H.  Sylvis,  an  iron- 
moulder  of  Pennsylvania,  who  felt  so  strongly  the 
need  of  labor  reform  that  he  worked  himself  into  an 


288  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

untimely  grave,  while  attempting  to  organize  the 
laborers  of  the  nation.  The  National  Labor  Ee- 
form  Congress  at  Philadelphia  in  1869  was  held 
pursuant  to  his  call ;  but  about  three  weeks  before 
the  time  set  for  the  meeting  God  called  him  hence. 
His  succesoor,  Eichard  F.  Trevelick,  is  a  shipwright 
by  trade,  and,  like  his  predecessor,  a  nobleman  by 
nature. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  only  three  real  leaders 
which  the  Labor  Eeformers  have  had  have  come 
from  the  ranks  of  actual  laboring  men.  An  iron- 
moulder,  a  shipwright,  and  a  shoemaker,  in  actual 
toil,  stepped  from  the  dingy  shop  into  the  halls  to 
initiate  a  movement  destined  to  revolutionize  this 
country,  and  have  an  influence  upon  bike  move- 
ments in  Europe. 

That  there  has  been  a  great  necessity  for  leaders, 
and  a  lack  of  available  men  in  the  ranks  of  the 
laborers,  is  apparent  to  the  most  casual  observer. 
The  reaction  has  carried  them  too  far,  and  the 
workmen,  although  they  desire  to  organize,  have  a 
prejudice  against  being  led.  More  than  this,  the 
men  and  women  of  real  merit  have  been  too  modest 
to  assume  a  leadership  without  being  forced  into 
positions,  while  the  attempts  of  silly  politicians  to 
lead  them  have  only  served  to  disgust  them  more 
deeply  than  ever  with  all  office-seekers  of  every 
class.  The  whole  movement  in  America  has  been 
characterized  by  no  leadership  except  in  the  cases 


BISE  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT.      289 

mentioned,  and  has  had  its  rise  entirely  with  the 
masses.  No  one  has  preached  reform  and  organ- 
ized the  converts ;  no  great  Jove  has  arisen  to 
hurl  his  lightnings  at  sleepy  mortals ;  but,  as  if  by 
instinct,  all  the  laborers  in  all  the  States  moved 
at  the  same  time  toward  organization  and  reform. 
Conventions,  lycemns,  and  "lodges"  were  organ- 
ized in  different  States,  and  with  remarkable  con- 
cert of  action  the  laborers  of  different  sections  of 
the  country  counselled  together  for  a  campaign 
in  favor  of  "  liberty  "  in  its  truest  and  best  sense. 
The  party  took  the  form  of  two  great  divisions, — 
one  declaring  its  principles  to  be  the  election  to  office 
of  none  but  such  men  as  can  show  calloused  hands  ; 
while  the  other  was  unwilling  to  vote  a  comrade 
into  office,  and  permit  him  to  draw  $5  or  $  10  a 
day,  while  his  constituents,  who  were  earning  only 
$  1.50  or  $  2  a  day,  were  just  as  well  qualified  to 
govern  as  he.  These  apparently  discordant  ele- 
ments did  much  toward  the  elevation  of  the 
party,  as  they  both  tended  directly  toward  the 
creation  of  a  strong  desire  among  the  laboring 
classes  for  education. 

The  man  who,  before  the  excitement  began,  spent 
his  leisure  hours  in  the  bar-rooms  or  on  the  streets, 
became  interested  in  the  improvement  of  his  mind, 
and  regularly  attended  on  the  meetings  of  the 
order  to  which  he  belonged,  and  abandoned  the 
dram-shop  to  pore  over  a  book,  or  peruse  the  Labor- 

13  8 


290  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Reform  periodicals  which  the  discussions  called  into 
being. 

This  result,  which  has  opened  a  door  for  the  en- 
trance into  the  arena  of  such  as  have  been  endowed 
with  natural  genius,  will  soon  furnish  leaders  who 
will  possess  both  of  the  required  qualifications; 
namely,  calloused  hands  and  great  minds. 

IV. 

IT  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  know 
what  are  some  of  the  objects  which  the  organiza- 
tions of  laborers  hope  to  accomplish.  There  are 
many  different  opinions,  plans,  and  aims ;  but  all  of 
them  are  included  in  the  general  demand  for  such 
rights  as  will  give  to  natural  ability  its  needed  cul- 
ture, and  guarantee  a  recognition  of  Nature's  aris- 
tocracy wherever  its  representative  noblemen  may 
appear.  They  purpose  to  begin  that  mighty  reform 
which  is  destined  sooner  or  later  to  overturn  the 
inefficient  pretenders  in  mortal  aristocracy  and 
substitute  everywhere  the  generous,  good,  and  great 
from  God's  own  natural  line. 

To  offset  the  unwise  legislation  in  favor  of  capi- 
tal, the  laborers  ask  for  a  reduction  in  the  hours 
of  labor.  They  claim  that  such  laws  will  insure 
the  education  of  the  laborers,  and  reduce  the  num- 
ber of  criminals  and  useless  non-producers. 

There  is  no  more  labor  performed  now  while  the 


EMPLOYMENT   OF  IDLERS.  291 

few  workmen  labor  twelve  or  fifteen  hours  a  day 
than  the  demand  renders  necessary.  Hence  the 
reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  would  increase  the 
demand  for  laborers.  The  workman,  although  he 
would  do  his  work  much  better,  could  not  do  as 
much  work  in  eight  hours  as  he  has  done  in  fif- 
teen. The  reduction  in  the  hours  would  oblige 
manufacturers,  merchants,  and  farmers  to  employ 
a  larger  number  of  persons.  As  nearly  all  the  la- 
boring people  are  now  employed,  they  must  of  ne- 
cessity find  workmen  among  other  classes.  The 
non-producing  hangers-on,  such  as  bar-keepers, 
small  speculators,  "  fancy  men,"  and  other  pests  of 
society,  with  the  beggars  and  poorhouse  occupants, 
would  be  irresistibly  drawn  into  the  ways  of  in- 
dustry, there  being  then  work  enough  for  all.  The 
fearful  evils  which  idleness  brings  upon  society, 
making  thieves,  drunkards,  and  libertines  of  men 
naturally  fitted  for  higher  and  better  stations  in 
life,  would,  in  a  measure  at  least,  be  avoided ;  while 
the  laborer  who  now  supports  this  enormous  body 
of  men  and  women  would  have  the  cost  of  their  liv- 
ing for  himself.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  honest, 
well-paid  labor,  which  is  not  a  state  of  slavery, 
would  empty  the  jails,  as  the  present  sentences  ex- 
pire, and  reduce  the  necessity  for  poorhouses,  hov- 
els, charitable  institutions,  and  houses  of  assigna- 
tion. A  reasonable  amount  of  labor  elevates  the 
workman  as  much  as  an  unreasonable  amount  de- 


292  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

grades  him;  and  if  it  were  made  reasonable  by 
law,  it  would  also  be  respectable.  Then  no  person 
of  any  ability  or  natural  honesty  would  pride  him- 
self upon  "getting  a  living  without  work,"  and 
none  could  say,  when  in  the  courts  of  justice  or  in 
rags,  that  they  owe  their  degradation  to  a  lack  of 
honest  employment. 

The  workmen  of  to-day  would  be  incalculably 
benefited  by  this  reduction.  The  efforts  which 
they  are  now  making  to  obtain  education,  and  the 
way  in  which  their  spare  time  is  now  beginning  to 
be  occupied,  indicates  what  use  they  would  make 
of  their  opportunities  had  they  more  time  and 
less  fatigue. 

Short  hours  will  enable  the  workman  to  per- 
form his  duties  without  so  exhausting  his  vital 
energies  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  study  or 
to  enjoy  thoughtful  amusement.  Books,  lectures, 
newspapers,  discussions,  or  creditable  plays  can 
have  no  attraction  for  exhausted  men  and  women. 
Such  persons  need  something  which  will  require 
little  or  no  thought ;  and  in  this  can  be  found 
the  reason  why  the  laboring  people  patronize  so 
many  silly  shows  and  love  bar-room  jokes. 

The  exhausted  system  craves  stimulating  drink, 
and  hundreds  fall  into  a  drunkard's  grave  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  they  are  overworked. 
There  is  at  present  but  little  opportunity  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  mind  by  reading  or  study,  and  it 


REFORM.  293 

is  a  wonder  that  the  laboring  classes  of  America 
have  retained  as  much  intelligence  as  we  now  find 
among  them.  Discouraged  by  insufficient  pay, 
deadened  by  arduous  toil,  worn  with  the  cares 
which  debt  and  uncertainty  throw  upon  them,  and 
filled  with  envy  at  the  sight  of  others  whom  for- 
tune or  friends  have  placed  in  positions  of  wealth 
and  ease,  they  must  lead  an  aimless,  ambitionless 
life  unless  endowed  with  more  than  the  ordinary 
strength  of  mind ;  and  they  show  a  greatness 
which  is  surprising,  when,  in  the  presence  of  these 
counter-influences,  they  can  take  sufficient  thought 
to  see  their  degradation  and  have  the  courage  to 
point  out  the  remedy. 

V. 

THESE  Eeformers  ask  for  a  hearing.  They  be- 
lieve that  something  may  be  learned  of  them  as 
well  as  of  others,  and  that  their  experience  in  a 
measure  offsets  their  lack  of  education.  The  most 
illustrious  men  of  the  world  have  been  such  as 
were  "good  listeners,"  and  could  find  something 
instructive  in  every  man's  conversation.  We  need 
more  of  those  men  in  America.  Mere  theorists  are 
an  encumbrance  to  society.  Like  faith  and  works 
in  spiritual  matters,  theory  and  experience  in 
political  affairs  must  always  go  together.  The 
workingmen  have  the  experience,  and  by  organ- 


294  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

izations  and  discussions  are  taking  the  necessary 
steps  to  secure  the  theory.  Like  Henry  Ward 
Beecher's  book-farming,  where  the  beans  seemed 
to  come  up  the  "  wrong  end  first/'  the  book 
theories  regarding  capital  and  labor  have  served 
only  to  complicate  and  render  impracticable  the 
whole  question.  The  workmen  wish  to  furnish 
the  facts  for  the  foundation,  and  let  the  structure 
rise  from  them,  instead  of  taking  theories  for  cor- 
ner-stones, and  hewing  the  facts  to  suit  their  shape 
and  size.  They  will  not  accept  any  theories  that 
are  not  compatible  with  the  following  facts, 
which  they  are  struggling  hard  to  get  before  the 
world :  — 

Labor  is  capital  The  capital  of  the  working 
men  and  women  does  not  receive  its  just  propor- 
tion of  the  profits  when  united  with  the  capital  of 
the  wealthy. 

Whenever  the  workmen  have  been  granted  an 
opportunity  to  educate  themselves,  they  have  be- 
come valuable  members  of  society,  and  have  given 
such  inventions  to  civilization  as  have  added  ten- 
fold to  the  comforts  of  human  life. 

Legislation  has  heretofore  given  its  exclusive 
favor  to  wealth ;  and  whatever  progress  the  laborers 
have  made,  or  whatever  rights  they  have  obtained, 
have  been  gained  in  direct  opposition  to  capital 
protected  by  law.  There  is  no  opportunity  for 
"  self-regulation  "  so  long  as  legislatures  interfere. 


WOKKINGMEN'S  NEEDS.  295 

If  they  make  laws  for  one  side,  they  must  for  the 
other. 

Eight  hours  of  lahor,  with  four  hours  of  study  or 
healthy  recreation,  will  soon  increase  the  skill  of 
the  operatives,  so  that  they  can  earn  nearly  as 
much  in  eight  hours  as  they  now  earn  in  twelve  ; 
and,  like  the  sewing-machines  and  other  improve- 
ments, they  will  cause  a  greater  demand  for  the 
work  of  their  hands. 

Opportunity  for  reading  and  observation  given 
by  limited  hours  of  labor  will  create  a  desire  for 
the  refinements  of  society,  and  make  them  a  class 
of  profitable  consumers. 

Children,  who  go  to  school  six  hours  in  every- 
day, earn  as  much  in  the  remaining  six  hours  as 
they  do  during  the  entire  day  when  they  are  not 
in  school* 

Organized  "  strikes  "  and  labor  associations  have 
had  a  wonderful  effect  in  preventing  riots,  in  ad- 
vancing education,  and  in  developing  the  best  parts 
of  the  workman's  nature.  No  mob  riots  have  ever 
occurred,  either  in  England  or  in  the  United  States, 
where  the  workmen  were  sufficiently  educated  to 
be  able  to  sustain  a  close  organization. 

No  working  man  or  woman,  after  having  en- 
tered upon  the  discussion  of  the  subject,  is  willing 
to  accept  any  terms  short  of  such  remuneration  as 
they  would  be  entitled  to  under  a  strict  and  im- 

*  Massachusetts  Statistics  of  I^bor. 


296  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

partial  system  of  co-operation,  where  every  laborer 
is  supposed  to  be  a  participator  in  the  profits  of 
the  business  to  the  full  extent  of  his  capital 
(labor)  invested. 

The  laborers  pay  as  dearly  for  their  liberty  as 
do  any  other  class,  and  appreciate  the  benefits  of  a 
liberal  form  of  government  as  well  as  other  mem- 
bers of  society. 

VI. 

I  CANNOT  pass  this  subject  without  adding  a 
word  to  the  arguments  already  advanced  with  re- 
gard to  those  great  monopolies  which  law-protected 
capital  is  creating.  It  was  thought  by  the  states- 
men of  the  age  just  passed,  that  the  granting  of 
certain  rights  and  privileges  to  corporations,  which 
gave  them  such  power  as  to  defeat  any  attempt  of 
single  laborers  or  associations  of  laborers  to  com- 
pete with  them,  was  unwise  and  dangerous.  What 
would  they  have  said  if  they  could  have  foreseen 
the  enactments  which  in  our  day  have  made  rail- 
road, land,  ship,  and  telegraph  companies  into 
mighty  monopolies  that  threaten  to  overturn  our 
whole  system  of  government  ?  The  public  domain 
is  given  away  to  railroad  corporations  in  tracts  as 
large  as  France.  Great  subsidies  are  granted  to 
private  enterprises,  and  the  earnings  of  the  poor 
man  are  used  to  rivet  his  own  chains.  The  work- 
man upon  a  telegraph  line  finds  when  it  is  com- 


FUTURE  OF  THE  CAUSE.         297 

plete  that  he  must  pay  one  hundred  per  cent 
profits  for  sending  a  message  announcing  the  death 
of  a  friend.  The  former  employee  of  a  railroad 
company  learns  that  a  passage  over  the  road  is  as 
much  greater  than  a  just  rule  would  permit  as  his 
wages  were  less  than  what  he  earned ;  and  that  with 
the  great  land-grants  and  exclusive  charters  he  is 
charged  double  the  price  which  would  have  been 
asked  on  a  road  built  without  public  assistance  or 
protection.  In  the  face  of  all  this  he  is  met  at  the 
doors  of  the  legislatures  with  the  cry  that  "  labor 
and  capital  must  regulate  themselves." 

Nothing  will  remedy  this  evil  but  the  represen- 
tation of  labor  in  the  halls  of  legislation.  The 
laboring  men  can  regulate  it,  and  the  laboring 
men  will  regulate  it.  They  will  have  the  power  as 
soon  as  they  learn  how  to  use  the  means  already  in 
their  possession.  When  discussion  and  study  shall 
have  created  a  desire  for  reading  sufficient  to  make 
the  subscription-lists  of  our  daily  papers  show  a 
majority  of  names  which  belong  to  workingmen, 
the  press  will  at  once  be  with  them.  With  the 
power  of  the  press,  educated  leaders,  and  an  ear- 
nest purpose,  too  independent  to  be  purchased  and 
too  vigilant  to  be  deceived,  the  majority  will  rule, 
and  the  majority  are  working  men  and  women. 


13* 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE. 

"Woman's  Eights.  —  Woman's  Sphere.  —  Using  the  Talents 
which  God  gave  her.  —  History  of  the  Suffrage  Movement  in 
America.  —  Margaret  Fuller.  —  Why  the  Eich  do  not  want 
the  Ballot.  —  Who  need  it.  —  Conclusion. 


THE  exact  meaning  of  the  word  "  rights  "  has 
never  been  definitely  settled,  and  the  expres- 
sion "woman's  rights"  only  serves  to  render  its 
import  more  vague  and  complicated  than  when 
standing  alone.  You  want  your  "  rights."  I  want 
my  "rights."  White  men  want  their  "rights," 
and  black  men  want  their  "rights";  but  in  the 
whole  list  there  is  nothing  so  indefinite  as  woman's 
"rights."  Men  and  women  stare  at  each  other 
with  an  expression  of  nothingness,  whenever  the 
subject  is  mentioned.  "What  can  woman  want 
more  than  she  has  got?"  Some  venturesome 
wights,  who  seemed  to  think  that  an  unmeaning 


WOMAN'S  EIGHTS.  299 

or  foolish  reply  is  better  than  none,  have  made 
good  Pope's  remark,  that 

"  Fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread," 

by  making  some  of  the  following  statements : 
"  Women  want  the  right  to  go  to  the  polls  with  the 
men,"  "  They  want  to  go  to  war,"  "  They  wish  for 
the  chance  to  rule,"  "  They  desire  to  be  placed  in 
positions  for  which  they  are  unfitted,"  "Woman 
wants  to  vote  merely  because  she  has  not  had  the 
privilege,"  "  Woman  is  discontented  in  her  proper 
sphere,"  "She  wants  the  right  of  doing  man's 
work,"  "  She  wants  to  oblige  her  husband  to  do  the 
housework  while  she  devotes  her  attention  to  the 
farm,  the  factory,  and  the  warehouse,"  "  She  wishes 
to  perform  impossibilities,"  &c.,  &c.  The  more 
absurd  and  impracticable  the  proposition  the  more 
convinced  have  these  buffoons  been  that  it  was  just 
what  the  women  the  most  desired. 

"Woman's  rights,"  however,  have  never  been 
defined,  and  never  can  be  defined  in  any  one  or 
any  series  of  books.  The  needs  of  one  woman  are 
not  the  wants  of  another,  and  the  desires  of  one 
class  can  find  no  sympathizers  in  any  other  class. 
They  can  unite  on  no  certain  remedy  as  applying 
to  every  class,  because  there  are  no  certain  wrongs 
that  apply  to  the  whole  sex.  Some  are  blessed 
with  everything  they  desire ;  others  have  nothing. 
Some  are  forced  into  higher  positions  than  they 
can  fill ;  others  are  far  below  their  natural  station. 


300  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

While  one  is  favored,  another  is  slighted;  and 
oftentimes  that  which  makes  one  happy  makes 
another  miserable. 

It  cannot  be  supposed  that  there  is  a  remedy 
for  all  the  wrongs  which  women  suffer ;  but  the 
measure  which  seems  to  promise  the  greatest  re- 
sults is  that  of  Woman's  Suffrage.  By  this  means 
women  are  placed  on  a  political  equality  with  men, 
and  have  nearly  an  equal  chance  with  them  of  re- 
ceiving a  recognition  of  such  natural  talent  as  they 
may  happen  to  possess.  The  agitators  demand 
universal  freedom.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
thinking  women  of  to-day  desire  or  expect  the 
passage  of  laws  which  will  oblige  them  to  do  man's 
duties.  They  demand  the  liberty  to  do  that  for 
which  Nature  seemed  to  have  intended  them  when 
she  endowed  them  with  intelligence  and  bodily 
vigor.  No  human  law  can  change  their  physical 
stature  or  enlarge  the  size  of  their  brains ;  but  the 
absence  of  restrictive  laws  may  afford  them  an  op- 
portunity to  cultivate  their  brains  and  strengthen 
their  physical  stature.  Neither  do  I  think  that 
laws  or  their  consequences  could  ever  make  women 
as  a  class  the  mental  equals  of  the  men  as  a  class. 
But  when  there  are  women,  as  often  happens,  with 
brains  as  large,  with  minds  as  strong,  and  with 
physical  stature  as  enduring,  as  can  be  found  in 
the  ranks  of  men,  I  would  not  suffer  a  law  to  exist 
which  prevented  such  a  person  from  occupying  an 


FITNESS  FOR  POSITION.  301 

equal  place  with  the  men  of  her  ability.  I  would 
open  the  whole  stage  to  free  competition  from 
every  class,  aud  award  the  crown  to  the  successful 
ones  without  regard  to  age,  sex,  or  nationality. 
No  law  should  prevent  the  icse  of  a  single  talent 
which  God  has  given  to  man  or  woman.  The 
woman  whose  tastes  take  her  to  the  bedside  of  the 
sick,  with  her  who  feels  that  she  has  the  ability 
to  defend  the  right  upon  the  rostrum,  should  be 
protected  and  encouraged.  If  there  were  found  in 
the  ranks  of  women  some  who  were  able  and  will- 
ing to  shoulder  a  musket  or  accept  the  position  of 
a  sea-captain  or  police-officer, — as  absurd  as  it 
seems  at  first  thought,  —  I  would  not  deny  them 
the  privilege.  The  few  women  that  have  been 
soldiers,  sailors,  and  detectives  have  no  more 
"brought  disgrace  on  their  sex"  than  the  tailors, 
hospital  nurses,  and  bakers  have  injured  the 
fair  fame  of  the  men.  It  needs  no  argument, 
however,  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  axiom  which 
recognizes  the  propriety  of  doing  that  for  which 
one  is  best  fitted ;  and  woman's  suffrage  will  serve 
no  other  purpose  but  that  of  giving  equal  oppor- 
tunities to  those  equally  endowed. 

• 

II. 

THE  "Woman's  Suffrage  movement  is    the  out- 
growth of  civilization,  and  is  also  the  more  imme- 


302  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

diate  result  of  a  recent  retrograde  movement  among 
the  political  and  social  leaders  of  enlightened 
society.  In  the  earlier  ages  of  the  world  physical 
strength  determined  the  superiority,  and  women 
with  the  weaker  classes  of  men  were  held  in  bond- 
age. But  little  attention  was  paid  to  mental  quali- 
fications for  leadership,  for  muscle  was  the  master. 
In  that  field  woman  had  her  "  rights,"  and  we  often 
read  in  history  of  Amazonians  like  Boadicea,  to 
whom  were  accorded  leadership  on  account  of  their 
physical  power.  Then  came  the  age  of  chivalry, 
when,  for  the  lack  of  other  causes  of  contention,  the 
lovers  of  bloodshed  and  war  agreed  upon  assuming 
a  protectorate  over  the  weaker  sex ;  each  man  look- 
ing upon  the  whole  class  as  his  immediate  charge. 
After  endless  quarrels  and  murders  in  attempting 
to  do  for  woman  what  they  would  not  let  her  do 
for  herself,  the  men  gave  up  the  task,  and  woman 
relapsed  into  her  former  obscurity  and  servitude. 
But  the  advance  of  civilization,  while  it  rejected 
the  idea  of  serving  woman  merely  because  she 
was  the  "weaker  sex,"  increased  man's  respect  for 
her  gentleness  and  natural  kindness  of  disposi- 
tion. 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers,  when  they  came  to  Amer- 
ica, did  not  hesitate  to  bring  their  wives  and 
children  with  them  across  the  stormy  sea ;  but  they 
were,  nevertheless,  so  far  advanced  that  they  re- 
spected and  honored  true  womanhood.  Years  passed, 


DAUGHTEHS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.      303 

and  this  respect  increased,  until  the  men  of  New 
England  gave  to  their  wives  and  daughters  the 
lightest  and  neatest  part  of  the  family  labor,  con- 
sidering the  house  and  its  keeping  more  fitted  to 
their  ability,  while  the  men  undertook  to  perform 
all  the  out-door  work,  which  required  physical 
strength  and  endurance.  It  was  done  as  an  equi- 
table division  of  labor,  and  among  other  duties  the 
men  undertook  the  care  of  town  and  colony  affairs. 
There  was  no  intentional  injustice,  and  the  woman 
had  no  thought  of  asking  a  vote  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  rights  which  had  always  been  accorded 
to  her  without  question. 

There  were  husbands  for  all  the  ladies,  and  it 
was  a  sin  and  disgrace  to  be  an  old  maid ;  hence 
the  men  felt  that  every  woman  could  have  a  pro- 
tector, who  could  defend  her  in  case  of  any  at- 
tempted injustice.  They  meant  no  evil  themselves, 
and  did  not  surmise  that  their  successors  would 
harbor  thoughts  of  selfishness  and  wrong.  Woman 
did  not  feel  that  she  was  deprived  of  any  rights, 
because  she  had  no  occasion  to  exercise  them. 

The  war  of  the  Eevolution  of  1812,  and  the 
campaign  in  Mexico,  left  many  widows  and  hus- 
bandless  maids,  and  for  the  time  awakened  some 
interest  in  the  rights  of  women  who  had  no  male 
protector ;  but  as  that  generation  passed  off  the 
stage  the  sexes  were  again  equalized,  and  com- 
parative harmony  restored.  The  effects  of  the 


304  NATUKE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

Mexican  war,  as  slight  as  it  was  in  the  light  of 
subsequent  events,  had  not  ceased  entirely  to  be 
felt  in  the  New  England  States  when  the  discov- 
ery of  gold  in  California,  and  the  unprecedented 
"Western  fever"  induced  the  emigration  of  a"  large 
number  of  young  men  from  the  Eastern  States. 
They  could  not  entertain  the  thought  that  the 
women  whom  they  loved  should-  be  exposed  to  the 
hardships  which  they  expected  to  endure,  and  so 
they  left  the  women  at  home  while  they  went  out 
by  thousands  "to  make  their  fortunes."  Thou- 
sands never  came  back,  nor  sent  back  for  the 
girls  whom  they  left  behind ;  and  a  large  surplus 
of  female  population  was  found  in  all  the  Eastern 
States  at  the  next  census.  Then  came  the  war 
with  the  South,  and  tens  of  thousands  went  into 
the  field  never  to  return,  leaving  behind  them  wives 
and  daughters  who  had  depended  solely  upon  their 
support.  The  soldiers  fell,  and  the  bereaved  women 
were  left  without  protectors :  and  with  but  a  very 
little  means  of  sustenance.  Then  it  was  that  frail 
women,  placed  at  the  head  of  families,  were  obliged 
to  pay  taxes  on  their  little  homes,  according  to 
assessments  the  justice  or  injustice  of  which  they 
had  no  political  power  to  question.  They  were 
subject  to  expensive  delays  by  the  "  red  tape  "  be- 
havior of  officials,  in  whose  election,  unfortunately, 
they  had  no  voice  ;  and  were  obliged  to  send  their 
children  to  schools  where  they  had  no  influence, 


WOMAN'S  WOKK.  305 

either  with  regard  to  the  discipline  or  the  plan  of 
studies.  In  short,  they  were  obliged  to  do  all  of  a 
man's  work,  and  all  of  a  mother's  ;  under  the  double 
disadvantage  of  being  physically  weak  and  of  pos- 
sessing no  political  influence  that  would  entitle 
them  to  respect.  Many  a  widow  has  been  slighted 
and  harshly  treated  when  she  applied  for  pension, 
or  tried  to  do  a  man's  business,  because  the  un- 
principled official  did  not  wish  to  bother  with  a 
person  who  could  give  him  no  vote. 

III. 

WHEN  the  surplus  of  women  became  so  great, 
and  it  was  evident  that  a  large  number  must  either 
starve  or  find  some  permanent  employment,  there 
arose  the  question  as  to  how  far  a  woman  might 
with  propriety  proceed  with  a  man's  work.  Thou- 
sands must  live  and  die  single,  and  there  was  no 
provision  made  by  custom  or  law  for  this  class  of 
human  beings.  They  must  encroach  upon  the 
domain  before  held  in  exclusive  possession  by  the 
men.  Long  before  the  war  this  question  presented 
itself,  and  had  been  decided  by  many  in  favor  of 
clerkships  and  teaching.  In  order  to  obtain  any 
foothold  in  this  exclusive  territory,  the  women 
were  obliged  to  repeat  the  action  of  those  who,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  factory  system,  attempted  to 
obtain  places  in  the  mills.  They  accepted  any- 


306  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

thing  that  offered  itself,  and  took  whatever  pay 
was  tendered  them  ;  which  in  some  instances  was 
exceedingly,  small  Notwithstanding  they  knew 
that  their  predecessors  had  received  thrice  the 
amount  which  they  received,  they  never  found  any 
fault,  so  glad  were  they  to  obtain  anything.  Thus  a 
precedent  was  established  which,  as  it  soon  passed 
into  custom,  could  not  be  broken  without  the 
assistance  of  the  law.  To  this  number  of  poorly 
paid  working-women  was  added  the  host  of  wid- 
ows and  orphans  left  destitute  by  the  war.  The 
market  for  woman's  labor  was  crowded  to  reple- 
tion with  anxious  applicants,  and  because  they 
were  in  such  sore  need  the  speculating  employers 
refused  to  pay  them  more  than  enough  to  sustain 
life.  Great  fields  of  labor,  untilled  and  unthrifty, 
lay  all  around  them,  the  bounds  of  which  they 
could  not  pass,  and  men  were  becoming  rich  on 
salaries  paid  for  work  which  women  could  perform 
equally  as  well  as  the  men;  but  those  offices 
were  political  offices,  and  none  but  voters  and  con- 
trollers of  voters  could  be  admitted.  Farms  were 
in  need  of  tillage,  mills  were  lying  idle,  and 
great  enterprises  were  dormant  for  lack  of  man's 
labor,  while  the  men  who  should  have  been  car- 
ing for  them  were  in  offices  which  women  could 
just  as  well  have  filled  had  they  been  qualified 
voters. 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE.  307 

IV. 

THE  first  great  advocate  which  woman's  suffrage 
found  in  this  country  was  Margaret  Fuller  Ossoli. 
The  vast  emigration  of  the  men  from  England, 
and  the  sad  situation  of  the  women  had  awakened 
some  enthusiasm  there ;  but,  unlike  the  movement 
in  this  country,  it  had  leaders,  but  no  follow- 
ers. Here  there  were  plenty  of  followers,  but  no 
distinguished  leaders.  Through  all  the  agitation 
upon  the  Woman's  Suffrage  movement  in  this 
country  there  has  never  been  another  advocate 
of  its  principles  so  uncompromising  and  so  pure- 
hearted  as  Margaret  Fuller  Ossoli. 

Her  remarkable  life  and  her  unswerving  fidelity 
to  principle  are  too  well  known  to  the  American 
people,  to  need  a  repetition  here.  How  she  labored 
and  wrote,  talked  and  persuaded ;  how  she  pitied 
the  imprisoned  "  victims  of  a  debased  civiliza- 
tion " ;  how  she  labored,  while  in  Eome,  in  the 
preparation  of  a  history  of  the  Ee volution  of  1848  ; 
and  how  with  her  husband,  Count  d'  Ossoli,  she  was 
wrecked  in  sight  of  land  and  with  her  valuable 
manuscript  lost  to  the  world  forever, — are  facts 
in  the  history  of  America's  great  and  good.  She 
was  one  of  Nature's  noblemen,  combining  the 
comprehensive  mind  of  Webster  with  the  culture 
and  polish  of  Everett. 

I  remember  being  in  attendance  one  evening  on 


308  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

a  lecture  delivered  by  a  woman  upon  Margaret 
Fuller's  life,  and  the  speaker,  after  saying  much  in 
praise,  summed  up  her  entire  speech  in  the  closing 
words :  "  Her  life  was  a  failure."  In  the  audience, 
unbeknown  to  the  speaker,  sat  the  mother  and 
brother  of  the  unfortunate  genius  about  whom  the 
words  were  uttered,  and  the  old  lady  turned  to  the 
brother,  saying,  "  If  you  do  not  get  up  and  reply  to 
that  lecturer,  then  I  will."  But  the  man  needed 
no  urging,  and  he  calmly  arose  in  his  seat,  and  in 
a  clear,  sweet,  unimpassioned  voice  said :  "  The 
lecturer  has  said  some  beautiful  things  of  my  sis- 
ter, but  she  also  states  that  her  life  was  a  failure. 
Could  the  life  of  that  woman  have  been  a  failure, 
who  was  the  staff  and  stay  of  a  widowed  mother, 
who  refused  advantageous  marriage  in  order  to  be 
able  to  give  her  two  brothers  a  college  education, 
and  who  wrote  "  Woman  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury "  ?  The  applause  which  greeted  him  showed 
plainly  where  lay  the  sympathy  of  the  audience. 

Her  life  was  by  no  means  a  failure.  That  great 
mind,  which  could  sing  her  little  boy  to  sleep  amid 
the  breakers  that  scattered  the  wreck,  and  en- 
courage the  sailors  to  face  death  when  even  they 
were  without  hope,  has  left  its  impression  in  her 
writings,  and  on  her  disciples  who  remain.  Biogra- 
phers may  call  her  an  "egotist,"  may  assail  her 
as  they  choose ;  the  time  will  come  when  she  will 
be  appreciated,  and  when  the  great  reform,  which 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE.  309 

she  almost  unconsciously  originated,  will  claim  the 
homage  and  respect  of  every  civilized  nation  on 
the  face  of  the  earth. 

It  was  pleasant  indeed  to  find  on  the  sixtieth 
anniversary*  of  Margaret  Fuller's  birthday  so 
many  able  women  who  were  willing  to  take  up 
the  work  where  she  left  it. 

Such  strong,  sensitive,  judicial  mind  as  that  of 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  such  eloquence  and  inde- 
pendence as  Mary  A.  Livermore  displays,  such 
culture  and  originality  as  marks  the  efforts  of 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  are  just  the  elements  which 
insure  success.  Above  all  this,  however,  is  the 
faith  they  have  in  the  cause,  and  their  apparently 
conscientious  behavior. 


V. 

TO-DAY  in  New  England  —  and  it  is  only  there 
that  women  are  so  numerous  as  to  be  at  present 
much  neglected  or  oppressed  —  there  are  three 
great  classes  of  women  with  whom  this  question  has 
to  do,  namely,  the  aristocratic,  the  middle,  and  the 
working  classes.  The  aristocratic  class  do  not 
want  the  ballot,  and  declare  that  they  "  could  not 
be  forced  to  vote " ;  the  middle  classes  concede 
that  the  ballot  is  plainly  a  right,  but  avoid  the 
question,  by  saying  that  woman  does  not  need  it ; 

*  Meeting  of  the  Woman's  Club,  Boston. 


310  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

while  the  laborers  see  in  it  a  remedy  for  many  of 
their  ills,  and  are  anxious  to  obtain  it. 

The  daughter  of  an  aristocratic  family,  begin- 
ning in  infancy,  is  supplied  with  every  comfort 
and  pleasure  which  money  can  furnish.  Books, 
dolls,  toys,  and  pictures  fill  the  hours  of  childhood ; 
while  visits,  games,  parties,  music,  and  the  dull 
pleasures  of  a  private  school  return  day  after  day 
in  ever  fresh  variety  as  the  weeks  of  girlhood 
pass.  When  after  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of 
a  happy  life  have  gone,  during  which  time  she  has 
never  been  without  devoted  and  wealthy  friends 
to  do  her  bidding  and  satisfy  every  wish,  she  is 
suddenly  placed  in  the  marriage  market  by  her 
relatives.  A  splendid  and  costly  entertainment  is 
provided,  and  nearly  all  of  the  young  men  and 
young  ladies  of  her  class  are  invited  to  participate 
in  the  ceremonies  of  her  "  coming  out."  If  very 
wealthy  she  at  once  becomes  a  prize,  set  up  for  the 
"best  or  the  richest  or  the  shrewdest  or  the  most 
noted  young  man  in  society.  The  race  begins  at 
once,  and  although  the  young  lady  most  concerned 
may  look  on  with  considerable  interest,  yet  she 
has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  regulations 
which  are  to  govern  and  decide  the  race. 

The  young  man  who  has  seen  the  lady  and 
thinks  that  it  is  best  for  him  to  attempt  to  win 
her,  calls  at  her  house  late  in  the  afternoon.  He 
does  not  ask  for  her,  however,  nor  mention  the 


COURTSHIP  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  311 

object  for  which  he  calls,  but  sends  his  card  to  the 
young  lady's  mother,  and  requests  her  presence  in 
the  parlor.  If,  during  the  interview  which  fol- 
lows, —  when  he  tries  his  utmost  to  be  agreeable 
to  the  old  lady,  —  the  young  lady  is  introduced  to 
him,  or  encouraged  in  his  presence  to  converse 
with  him,  he  concludes  that  he  is  regarded  with 
favor. 

He  asks  permission  to  call  again  if  all  parties 
seem  to  be  "exceedingly  pleased,"  but  at  each 
subsequent  interview  some  member  of  her  family 
is  present,  until  such  time  as  the  suitor  has  become 
by  common  consent  the  betrothed  husband.  Then 
a  formal  engagement  is  made,  the  world  is  notified, 
and  no  restraint  is  placed  by  guardians  upon  the 
movements  of  the  young  couple.  The  young  gen- 
tleman thinks  it  to  be  his  duty  to  wait  upon  his 
affianced  bride  with  unceasing  care  and  devotion, 
and  watches  her  footsteps  with  the  greatest  vigi- 
lance lest  she  be  annoyed  or  injured  in  some  way. 

Then  follows  the  marriage,  the  parties,  the  pres- 
ents, the  tours,  and  sensations,  after  which  she 
becomes  the  mistress  of  a  mansion  where  her  word 
is  law,  and  where  she  is  ever  protected  and  cared 
for  by  numerous  hired  domestics.  In  all  the  jour- 
ney of  life,  she  holds  in  her  hands  the  imperial 
power  which  money  and  position  supply,  is  edu- 
cated to  no  work,  taught  to  avoid  working  men 
and  women,  and  told  by  all  that  it  is  vulgar,  for  a 


312  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

lady  to  do  anything  but  oversee  the  servants,  re- 
ceive callers,  and  stitch  upon  fancy  work.  In  her 
presence  no  man  would  venture  a  word  upon  poli- 
tics. Such  women  naturally  look  upon  the  idea 
of  going  to  the  polls  with  a  promiscuous  crowd  of 
men  and  women,  and  having  only  the  same  num- 
ber of  ballots  that  a  servant  has,  as  something 
repulsive  and  very  much  to  be  feared.  In  their 
blissful  ignorance  of  the  world  and  its  ways,  the 
ballot  is  a  very  undesirable  thing.  They  have 
nothing  to  gain  by  it,  while  it  might  cause  them  a 
great  deal  of  trouble.  That  they  have  a  duty  to 
perform  to  those  whom  it  will  benefit  cannot  be 
impressed  upon  their  minds,  because  the  whole  ten- 
dency of  their  education  has  been  to  give  them  the 
opinion  that  they  are  beings  higher  and  nobler 
than  they  who  work ;  while  in  some  few  cases  the 
lower  classes  are  treated  by  them  as  a  nuisance  to 
be  abated  on  the  first  occasion.  There  are  more  of 
those  ladies  who  have  no  part  or  interest  in  the 
government,  and  who  regard  any  participation  in 
politics  by  a  lady  as  an  exhibition  of  coarseness 
or  vulgarity,  than  there  are  of  "  low  Irishwomen  " 
who  would  not  understand  the  meaning  of  a  vote. 
Either  would  use  the  ballot  with  great  awkward- 
ness until  the  faulty  education  of  the  one  and  the 
ignorance  of  the  other  were  overcome  by  experi- 
ence and  care. 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE.     ,  313 

VI. 

OMITTING  any  extended  notice  of  the  middle 
classes,  who  incline  toward  one  or  the  other  of  the 
two  remaining  divisions  as  circumstances  happen 
to  influence  them,  and  who  take  but  little  pains  to 
advocate  woman's  suffrage,  although  they  all  recog- 
nize the  natural  right  of  every  sane  woman  to  the 
ballot ;  I  will  refer  to  the  women  who  see  their 
degradation,  and  feel  their  chains,  but  cannot 
escape. 

The  factory-girl,  who  enters  upon  her  work  when 
ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  has  none  of  the  friendly 
care  and  none  of  the  comforts  which  the  wealthy 
daughter  possesses.  She  is  treated  neither  with 
politeness  nor  consideration.  She  must  go  to  the 
agent  herself,  and  without  favor  or  advice,  make 
her  own  bargain  with  him.  She  must  hire  her 
own  board,  buy  her  own  clothes,  earn  her  own 
money,  and  attend  personally  to  all  her  affairs  of 
business,  whether  they  call  her  to  the  street,  the 
counting-house,  or  the  parlor.  She  has  no  differ- 
ence shown  her  there  because  she  is  a  woman ; 
and  she  must  work  as  hard  and  do  her  task  as 
well  as  a  man,  or,  like  him,  be  discharged,  without 
ceremony  or  apology. 

Treated  in  every  respect  like  a  man,  governed 
by  the  same  strict  rules,  and  as  often  obliged  to 
defend  her  property  or  character,  she  receives  only 

14 


314  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

about  one  half  of  a  man's  pay,  and  none  of  his 
"  perquisites."  She  is  placed  in  a  position  where 
she  is  exposed  to  calumny,  temptation,  and  crime  ; 
with  no  weapon  to  defend  herself,  and  no  friends  to 
act  for  her.  Her  contact  with  the  world  and  her 
experience  in  affairs  of  business  gives  her  an  inde- 
pendence of  character  and  a  knowledge  of  her 
rights  which,  under  present  circumstances,  serves 
only  to  aggravate  her  discontent.  She  feels  the 
power  of  the  law,  and  knows  full  well  that  many 
of  her  trials  are  due  to  unjust  enactments  which 
she  might  amend  if  she  had  an  equal  right  with 
the  half-witted  loafer  who  is  employed  to  do  "  odd 
jobs."  If  you  should  ask  her  opinion  about  the 
delicacy  of  going  to  the  polls  to  vote,  or  with  re- 
gard to  the  reasons  why  she  would  vote  for  speci- 
fied measures,  she  would  say  that  the  polls  could 
not  be  a  worse  place  than  those  which  she  is  obliged 
to  enter  every  day,  and  that  she  is  as  able  to  dis- 
cuss questions  of  politics,  takes  as  many  papers, 
and  has  as  much  interest  in  public  affairs  as  any 
of  the  men  who  work  beside  her. 

Factory-girls  are  always  politicians ;  they  must 
discuss  something ;  and  in  the  absence  of  fashion- 
able balls,  dinner-parties,  new  styles,  and  the 
amusements  of  high  life,  they  turn  their  attention 
to  the  solid  affairs  which  concern  the  welfare  of 
State  and  nation.  They  see  the  deceit,  double- 
dealing,  and  fraud  which  enter  into  politics,  mak- 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE.  315 

ing  men  miserable  as  well  as  women.  They  are 
cognizant  of  the  dangers  that  beset  the  nation,  and 
of  the  measures  which  would  avoid  them;  but 
they  can  only  sit  and  weep  while  politicians  con- 
coct their  schemes  for  plunder  and  advantage. 

VII. 

THE  lady  clerks  and  accountants,  who  form  a 
large  proportion  of  the  women  employed  in  the 
non-manufacturing  towns,  are  obliged  to  care  for 
themselves  and  do  their  own  business.  In  Massa- 
chusetts there  are  thousands  of  orphans,  both  in 
factory  and  store,  who  began  very  young,  and  have 
had  no  assistance  of  any  kind  in  providing  them- 
selves with  the  comforts  of  life.  Many  began  as 
little  "  cash  girls,"  and  from  the  time  they  shrink- 
ingly  entered  the  salesroom  for  the  first  time,  they 
have  been  constantly  schooled  in  the  severest  trials 
of  life.  Engaging  in  men's  business,  they  became 
as  efficient  as  men ;  and  although  they  so  unjustly 
receive  but  one  half  the  compensation  which  men 
would  receive,  have  been  successful  competitors 
with  them  in  every  mercantile  department  into 
which  they  have  been  permitted  to  enter. 

I  remember  a  row  of  little  girls  who  were  seated 
on  the  edge  of  the  platform  during  a  meeting  of 
the  "  Dover  strikers,"  and  who  appeared  to  me  to 
be  too  small  to  be  away  from  home  without  a 


316  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

guardian.  Leaning  over  so  as  to  call  the  attention 
of  one  of  the  nearest  of  the  group,  I  asked  her 
what  she  could  be  doing  there.  "0,"  said  the 
lisping  child,  "  /  ese  on  der  sthiJce." 

Two  little  girls  who  had  been  turned  out  of  em- 
ployment by  a  refusal  of  the  other  employees  to 
attend  to  their  duties,  went  into  a  confectionery 
shop,  where  one  proposed  to  purchase  some  candy ; 
but  the  smaller  one,  who  was  about  six  years  old, 
advised  the  elder  to  save  her  money,  and  added : 
"You  know  we  are  on  a  strike,  and  there  is  no 
certainty  about  the  time  when  we  shall  earn  any 
more ! " 

"  I  know,"  said  the  other  independent  child, 
"  but  the  money  I  Ve  got  is  my  money.  I  earned 
it,  and  I  '11  spend  it  as  I  see  fit." 

Beginning  thus  in  their  youth,  and  continuing 
through  life  in  the  same  course,  they  become,  by 
force  of  circumstances,  intelligent  women,  endowed 
with  a  large  amount  of  practical  knowledge,  and 
its  excellent  helpmeet,  good  old-fashioned  com- 
mon sense. 

The  most  favored  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
abused  class  of  clerking  women  are  those  who 
have  succeeded  in  obtaining  situations  in  govern- 
ment offices.  Their  pay  is  usually  better  than 
that  of  many  other  wonier,  but  their  weakness  and 
lack  of  political  power  exposes  them  to  the  insults 
and  despicable  chicanery  of  any  political  rascal 


GIRLS   IN  THE  TREASURY   DEPARTMENT.      317 

who  presumes  to  attack  them.  If  they  had  votes 
to  cast,  no  such  assaults  would  ever  be  made  upon 
them.  There  might  be  political  quarrels,  jealousy, 
and  hate,  but  for  every  actual  wrong  there  would 
then  be  the  same  means  of  redress  which  the  men 
have. 

A  short  time  ago  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Congress  arose  in  a  branch  of  that  august  body,  and 
accused  all  the  girls  in  the  employ  of  the  Treasury 
Department  of  crimes  which  cannot  be  rehearsed 
here.  Why  he  should  spend  his  temper,  time,  and 
breath  in  thus  accusing  the  wives  of  wounded 
soldiers,  the  daughters  of  deceased  generals,  and 
virtuous  supporters  of  invalid  parents  and  chil- 
dren, can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
his  associations  elsewhere  had  been  such  as  to 
destroy  his  respect  for  women  in  general,  and  kill 
every  sense  of  shame  which  he  might  otherwise 
have  possessed.  The  untruth  of  his  statements 
was  so  apparent  to  all  that  the  people  of  the 
country  laughed  at  him,  and  excused  him  as  the 
Yankee  did  the  donkey,  because  "  he  did  n't  know 
any  better."  It  may  be  that  some  of  the  govern- 
ment offices  employ  female  clerks  whose  reputa- 
tions are  not  good,  and  if  so,  it  is  the  fault  of  the 
men  who  vote  and  who  hold  the  offices.  But  this 
could  be  said  of  but  very  few  in  the  departments 
at  Washington  compared  with  the  whole  number, 
and  those  would  not  remain  in  office,  and  continue 


318  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

to  sin  if  woman  had  sufficient  political  influence 
and  the  opportunity  to  meet  in  Congress  the  few 
debauched  and  unprincipled  representatives  who 
keep  those  disreputable  persons  there.  Neither 
would  those  defenceless  women,  to  whom  a  good 
name  is  everything,  have  been  permitted  to 
mourn  and  weep  under  the  insult,  without  a  sin- 
gle word  of  defence  from  among  that  host  of 
talented  lawgivers. 

On  the  evening  —  I  should  say,  night  —  of  the 
22d  of  February,  1870,  a  great  number  of  the  fash- 
ionable ladies  and  titled  men  gathered  at  a  hall  in 
Washington  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  Washing- 
ton ;  and  the  description  of  the  event,  from  the  pen 
of  that  unrivalled  correspondent,  "  Olivia,"  found 
its  way  over  the  country  in  the  columns  of  the 
Philadelphia  Press.  0  the  magnificent  equipages 
and  the  gorgeous  apparel !  The  most  fashionable 
people  of  other  cities  sighed  and  wondered  while 
they  read.  It  was  a  ball  of  the  "  old  school,"  and 
unnatural  aristocrats  were  in  their  glory. 

In  all  that  company  of  diamond-decked  ladies 
it  is  very  doubtful  if  there  was  a  single  one  who 
would  not  scoff  at  the  idea  of  woman's  suffrage. 
They  had  more  than  their  rights,  and  were  satisfied 
to  trail  their  silks  and  coquette  with  their  jewelled 
fans,  while  thousands  in  that  same  city  were  with- 
out a  good  name,  without  friends,  and  without 
proper  sustenance,  for  the  very  reason  that  these 
ball-goers  possessed  such  a  wealth  of  display. 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE.  319 

At  that  same  time  the  umbrella  and  parasol 
girls  of  New  York  were  on  a  strike,  attempting  to 
obtain  a  slight  approach  to  a  just  compensation 
for  their  work.  One  of  them  seeing  "Olivia's" 
description  of  the  ball,  exclaimed  as  tens  of 
thousands  have  done  before,  — 

"  Oh !  why  was  I  born  ?  It  does  seem  as  if  God 
cursed  the  poor  and  always  favored  the  rich  ! " 

I  doubt  not  that  the  effect  of  that  display  upon 
the  desponding  hearts  of  poor  working-girls  was 
the  indirect,  if  not  the  direct,  cause  of  many  of  the 
suicides  which  followed  in  such  numbers  so  soon 
after. 

Do  you  ask  if  woman's  suffrage  would  remedy 
these  evils  ?  We  all  know  that  it  would  remedy 
a  great  many  of  them ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  the 
knowledge  of  woman's  political  principles  and  the 
power  for  good  which  she  would  possess  has  hin- 
dered the  movement  much  more  than  the  fear  of 
evil  has  done.  The  great  and  good  have  never 
opposed  the  elevation  of  society  and  the  advance- 
ment of  woman;  the  little  and  the  bad  have 
always  done  so. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  the  inscrutable  course  of  nature,  men  and 
women  are  endowed  with  special  mental  and  physi- 
cal qualifications,  fitting  them  for  certain  stations 
in  a  perfect  state  of  human  society  and  unfitting 
them  for  others. 


320  NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 

In  the  present  condition  of  the  world  very  few 
men  or  women  reach  the  exact  station  for  which 
they  appear  to  have  been  designed;  while  some 
are  so  far  misplaced  as  to  cause  much  wretched- 
ness and  crime. 

So  uncertain  are  we  as  to  the  time  when,  or  the 
place  where,  great  and  noble  women  will  be  born 
that  the  only  safe  and  just  plan  is  to  so  regulate 
our  laws  that  all  the  men,  women,  and  children  may 
have  the  full  advantage  of  their  natural  genius. 

In  order  to  accomplish  this  there  must  be  an 
entire  lawful  equality  between  all  mankind,  and 
the  facilities  for  mental  and  physical  culture  must 
extend  to  all  alike. 

With  the  aid  of  such  laws  and  assistance  the 
great  will  rise  to  their  stations  untrarnelled,  while 
the  little  will  fall  to  theirs,  —  making  a  complete 
and  harmonious  whole. 

But  as  we  cannot  look  for  perfection  nor  hope 
to  rid  the  world  entirely  of  evil,  we  will  not  at- 
tempt in  our  weakness  to  right  at  once  all  the 
wrongs  which  we  find  in  the  world. 

For  some  evils,  however,  resulting  from  the  un- 
natural condition  of  society,  we  can  plainly,  unmis- 
takably, see  the  remedies  ;  one  of  which  is,  prac- 
tical co-operation  between  the  laborer  and  the  capi- 
talist, and  the  other  is  woman's  suffrage. 

The  first  will  give  to  working  men  and  women 
alike  the  means  to  assist  themselves  into  the 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE.  321 

spheres  of  labor  for  which  they  are  fitted,  will 
alleviate  much  suffering,  and  eradicate  much  evil. 
Without  it  education  is  a  curse  to  many,  as  it 
creates  desires  which  can  never  be  satisfied  and 
leaves  them  to  a  poverty,  the  full  misery  of  which 
they  are  sufficiently  enlightened  to  realize. 

Woman's  suffrage  gives  to  women  who  are 
specially  gifted  the  opportunity  to  assume  their 
proper  stations  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  nation. 
It  is  not  expected  that  many  will  leave  the  kitchen, 
or  the  parlor,  or  the  bedside,  or  the  desk  to  assume 
the  badge  of  office,  for  few  of  them  are  fitted  for  it. 
Woman  will  never  rule,  or  aspire  to  rule,  those 
who  are  better  qualified  for  office  than  she.  But 
there  are  crimes  to  prevent,  fallen  women  to  raise, 
poverty  to  alleviate,  ignorant  people  to  educate, 
and  justice  to  do,  which  have  not  been  done  under 
the  exclusive  franchise  of  the  men,  and  which  in 
all  probability  woman  would  accomplish  if  she  had 
the  power  that  the  ballot  gives. 

Suffrage,  taken  aside  from  the  good  it  would 
accomplish,  is  due  to  woman  as  an  act  of  the  sim- 
plest justice.  She  is  taxed  for  her  property,  but 
has  no  voice  in  the  use  of  those  contributions  to 
society.  She  is  arrested  for  breaking  laws  which 
were  made  without  consulting  her.  She  is  tried 
before  judges  and  juries  who  cannot  understand 
or  appreciate  a  woman's  weakness  or  temptations, 
and  is  often  driven  into  further  crime,  and  at  last 

14*  u 


322  NATUKE'S  ARISTOCRACY 

buried  in  the  holes  of  a  "  potter's  field,"  because  of 
the  unwise  decisions  of  her  male  judges.  She  is 
often  at  the  head  of  a  family,  owing  to  the  death 
of  her  husband,  and  though  intrusted  with  a  man's 
cares  and  responsibilities,  she  has  none  of  man's 
political  power.  In  fine,  she  is  under  the  contin- 
ued oppression  of  many  foolish  and  injurious  laws, 
which  man  wilfully  or  ignorantly  made,  and  which 
he  wilfully  or  carelessly  refuses  to  abolish;  to 
none  of  which  has  she  ever  been  asked  to  give  her 
consent,  although  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of 
her  sex  in  the  United  States  must  live  and  die 
under  those  laws  single  and  unprotected. 


Not,  however,  to  one  law,  not  to  one  class,  not 
to  one  people,  do  I  ask  the  reader's  entire  attention ; 
but  rather  to  all  those  measures  which  will  do  justly 
by  all  those  men  and  all  those  women,  wherever 
they  may  be  found,  who  can  show  an  undisputed 
title  to  an  honorable  rank  in 

NATURE'S  ARISTOCRACY. 


Cambridge :  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigelow,  and  Company. 


UNIFORM   WITH   THIS   VOLUME. 


WHY   AND    HOW. 

WHY  THE  CHINESE  EMIGRATE,  AND  THE  MEANS  THEY 

ADOPT  FOE  THE  PURPOSE  OF  GETTING 

TO  AMERICA. 

BY   COL.   RUSSELL  H.   CONWELL. 
ISiuo.    Price,  $  1.50. 


"  Col.  Russell  H.  Conwell,  who  as  a  lecturer  and  writer  has  won  a  most 
enviable  reputation,  is  the  author  of  a  work  concerning  the  Chinese  which 
appears  from  the  press  of  Lee  and  Shepard  to-day.  As  a  lecturer  Col.  Con- 
well  is  very  popular  ;  as  few  men  have  travelled  farther,  observed  more  keenly, 
and  told  more  accurately  and  interestingly  what  has  come  to  their  knowledge. 
Knowing  just  what  information  the  people  of  the  United  States  desired,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  especial  work  of  gathering  facts  relating  to  the  '  Coolie 
question.'  In  this  effort  he  has  displayed  talents  which  will  give  him  a  repu- 
tation as  a  writer  equal  with  the  fame  as  an  orator  which  he  already  enjoys." 
Boston  Times. 

"  There  has  been  little  given  to  the  public  which  throws  more  timely  and 
intelligent  light  upon  the  question  of  Coolie  emigration  than  the  book  writ- 
ten by  Col.  Russell  II.  Conwell  of  Boston."  —JYew  York  Herald. 


PUBLISHED   BY   LEE    AND   SHEPARD, 

179  Washington  Street,  Boston. 


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